heroes and thieves
by pengiechan
Summary: After two years away, she's not sure what's right anymore - if she's the heroine of the story or destined to be written out of it. A nameless woman struggles to find herself while her hero fights for his life. AyumuxHiyono, takes place post-manga. Complete.
1. prologue

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter one - prologue

* * *

It's a rainy morning in March. Narumi Kiyotaka sits in a booth along the wall of a small diner, drinking deep from a mug of coffee. And across from him, on the other side of the booth, a young woman absently twists the long strands of her blonde hair into a braid.

The tall detective sitting across from her hasn't said anything, and the young woman is glad for that. She called him here for a reason - well, a few reasons, really, but one_ important_ reason - yet is having trouble finding her words. Kiyotaka is still technically her boss, after all. She's never really been afraid of him, but in this specific situation, she's worried about what he'll say.

Specifically, she's worried that he'll say "no." And then her whole plan, her ideas, her carefully thought-out map for the next few months, will all be for nothing. And the two years she's spent in Tokyo will be for nothing, too. And -

"Yui."

She looks up, suddenly, because the detective has said something. And the entire right side of her hair is almost completely braided.

"Sorry." Kiyotaka smiles, steepling his fingers together over the now empty coffee cup on the table. "You looked very deep in thought. I don't mean to rush you, but..."

"O - oh. No, it's... it's not a problem. I understand." She releases her hair with a sigh, and it falls to rest against her shoulder, the fine strands loosening and releasing most of the braid. "I realize that you have to be at work very soon, so..."

"For a moment, I wondered if you'd forgotten your name. I was trying to get your attention for quite some time." He chuckles. "I suppose it has been a very long time since we've used it."

"... ah," she murmurs, glancing away from him. She's been Yui, last name unknown, a former orphan and ward of Japan, contract employee to Narumi Kiyotaka for something like nineteen years, and Yuizaki Hiyono for only one. But somehow it seems like the last twelve months have been the most important.

"Well." Kiyotaka's voice is soft, almost understanding, as if he knows what kind of thoughts are running through her head right now. "Have you called me here to end your contract? Our time is almost up, after all, and now that your job is coming to a close - "

"No," she says, quickly, and looks back to him. "I... actually, I would like to ask if I could - no. I would like to request a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yes, I... truthfully, I..." She swallows down the lump in her throat. "I know that there is... research to be done, now. And that your remaining funds will go toward..." She swallows again, but it's useless, the lump won't go away, and there's a twinge of pain low in the pit of her stomach when she finally speaks his name. The name of the person she is about to betray. "... toward Narumi-san's health."

"Oh, yes." Kiyotaka nods, smiling again. "That is the plan… assuming Ayumu is victorious, of course."

"I... I would like to help. In any way possible." She closes her eyes tight and bows the best she can, her ribcage banging against the edge of the table. "Please."

The detective is silent for a moment. She doesn't know if he's surprised, or if he's been expecting this all along. Knowing him the way she does, she's sure he's anticipated something like this. But whether or not he'll agree -

"Hmmm." When she opens her eyes again, she sees that a waitress has arrived at their table to refill Kiyotaka's mug. He grins and nods his head in thanks as she turns to walk away, and when he looks back at the blonde across the table, the grin hasn't faded at all. "I wonder," he begins, lifting the coffee to his mouth, "do you speak any German, Yui?"

"... _what_?"


	2. my best I

**author's note: **Just to eliminate any possible confusion, this chapter begins the "real" story. This takes place a few weeks after the last chapter of the manga.

Enjoy!

* * *

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter two - my best (part I)

* * *

_two years later_

* * *

She's getting tired of dreaming in German.

The elevator doors close with a dull thud, and as her trip to the upper floors of the hospital begins, Yui tries - and fails - to stifle a yawn. Although she's been back in Tokyo for nearly a week, the jet lag still hasn't quite gone away. It doesn't help that the apartment Kiyotaka secured for her is on a busy street, and the sound of pedestrians, cars, and motorcycles keeps her awake well into the night. And when she _does_ finally sleep, her dreams are a muddled mix of physicians and research, all in German with the occasional drop of English.

Well, she thinks, rubbing her eyes with her free hand, the other tightening around the bouquet of daffodils she's carrying, at least she's not having dreams about _him_. But maybe that's because she has the real thing now.

Sort of.

The elevator doors slide open with a polite little ding, and she steps out into the quiet hallway, her low heels clicking on the floor. Though she's only been here once before, she's studied the map enough times to know where Narumi Ayumu's hospital room is. And if she somehow managed to forget, she could always ask. Anyone would be able to tell her the answer. _Excuse me, where is the room of the patient with a piano by his bed?_

Kiyotaka is waiting outside when she arrives, tapping away at the buttons on his cell phone. When he notices her, he shuts the device quickly and folds it closed, clearing his throat. "Well," he greets her, keeping his voice low, "it should be finished by this afternoon. Your contract will be officially terminated."

She forces a smile, but that's as much as she'll give him. "Thank you."

"You may not believe me, but my intention was not to keep you away for so long." He glances at the closed door beside them. "Things simply... progressed... faster than I expected."

"I understand."

"And - "

"But," she interrupts him, reaching for the handle of the door, "that_ doesn't_ mean I have to forgive you."

The detective sighs, shaking his head, and as she enters Ayumu's hospital room, she sees him flip open his phone again as he begins to walk away. She knows that she's being slightly ridiculous about this - and that it was, in fact, absolutely necessary for her to be abroad for the entirety of two years. But she also knows that she asked to come back a year ago and wasn't even told about the decline in Ayumu's health (or Hizumi's death). And that is one of the many reasons she has for being absolutely and utterly_ infuriated_ with Narumi Kiyotaka right now.

"Ah. You're back."

... but, she thinks, and turns her head to look into the face of a nineteen-year-old brown-haired young man in a hospital bed, one hand on the keys of a piano, she can't be _too_ mad. Because he's not keeping her away, after all.

"I brought flowers, Narumi-san!" she announces, shutting the door behind her with a smile. "I hope you aren't allergic."

"Hn," he grunts, and looks at the piano instead of her. "Why are you here?"

"Oh? Didn't I tell you I'd come by again soon?" She keeps her tone cheerful, walking to the small table that sits on one side of his bed. It's neatly stacked with books, folders (presumably with sheet music inside), a few pens, and a lamp - and, she notices, a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. She shuffles all these items carefully to one side, unwrapping the protective cellophane around the daffodils. "I bought a vase, so you don't have to worry about that. Now if anyone brings you flowers, they'll have somewhere to put them. Isn't that nice?"

He's still looking at the piano. "Hn."

"Well, you really haven't changed very much in two years," she continues, smiling to herself as she places the vase on the table and carefully re-arranges the flowers within. "That's the Narumi-san I remember, after all. Always answering me with "hn" or "ah" or "stupid girl.""

"And you're still calling me "Narumi-san.""

"Hmm? Is there something else I should be calling you?" She glances at him before turning her attention back to the flowers. "Isn't that the polite way to address you?"

"It's annoying."

"Oh, is it?"

"It is." She straightens and turns around, opening her mouth to respond, but this time he's looking at her, frowning slightly, almost squinting, and her train of thought comes to a screeching halt. There's something he wants to say, she thinks - and she's right. "Where were you?" he asks, his voice low.

She swallows, but there's a lump in her throat all of a sudden, one that she thinks won't be going away anytime soon. "Wh - what do you mean?"

"Not that it's any of my business." He looks away again. "But everyone made a big deal out of it, assuring me you hadn't run away."

"Oh. Well, I... I had another job to do. And..." She folds her hands together, wondering if she should be closer to him. This distance between them feels cold, somehow. "... and it kept me busy."

"Another job," he repeats. "For my brother?"

"Yes," she admits.

"So he's still controlling you?"

"Not anymore," she responds, softly, and can't quite keep herself from smiling. Ayumu turns his head and looks at her again - looks at her _hard_, almost as if he's trying to figure out if she's lying - and there's a long pause before she thinks of something else to say. Something she _has_ to say. "Although my contract is being dissolved, I've agreed not to disclose the details of my job. It's _not_ as if I did anything - um, illegal, or bad, or anything like that. But it was some very sensitive... material. And - "

"It's a trade secret," he interrupts, and for just a moment she swears he smiles. He shifts in his bed, turning his face toward the nearest window, and the sunny spring morning covers his body in light. "I suppose I don't really have to know," he continues, "just as long as you did your best while you were out there."

"I did," she responds, softly, taking a few steps closer to his bed, studying the way the sunlight falls on his face, the way his profile seems to have changed so little and yet so much in the last two years. He's older, now, and so is she, but somehow, in some ways, it doesn't feel like any time has passed at all, like they're right back to where they were before everything changed.

But things _have_ changed.

"I'm tired," he announces, suddenly, and yawns as if to prove it. "Go away and let me get some sleep. The nurses had me up all night doing blood tests again."

"Go - go away?" she sputters, eyes wide. "But I - I just got here!"

"And?" He looks over his shoulder at her, lifting an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were coming. You're still showing up unannounced and uninvited."

She clenches her jaw. "I thought you might be happy to see me again."

"Have I _ever_ been happy to see you?"

"Narumi-_san_."

He laughs. He actually laughs. It's a short laugh, and she almost mistakes it for a cough, but the sound is good and warm and welcome, and it fills her with some strange, vaguely familiar kind of happiness. "Come back tomorrow," he says, with a nod and a brief wave of his hand, followed by a pointed look at the bright yellow daffodils on his bedside table. "And make sure you water those things. If I manage to get out of bed today, it won't be to keep your flowers alive."

And she is so stunned by his invitation to come back again, so caught off guard by the sound of his laughter, that she can do nothing else but quietly agree, turn around, and walk out of the room.


	3. my best II

**author's note: **There is a Spiral Alive reference in this chapter, so if you don't understand the "first favor" to Kiyotaka I mention, that might be why. If you _have_ read Spiral Alive and missed it, look again, closely - someone very familiar makes her first appearance in that series. :)

* * *

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter three - my best (part II)

* * *

She's given a lot of thought to Yuizaki Hiyono over the last two years.

Kiyotaka had caught wind of her reputation when she was fourteen. As Yui, she was an almost permanent ward of the state, rejected from no less than three foster homes for bad behavior. Most children who were sent back to the orphanage had been caught stealing, or attempted to harm their foster parents and siblings. But _her_ crime was always hacking. With a laptop at her disposal and nothing better to do, she'd developed programming skills that could make even the most experienced developer feel inferior.

The detective had arrived at the orphanage in Kansai one evening, unannounced, and asked politely to see her skills. She'd shown him a few things - but nothing that would get her in trouble - and after twenty minutes, he'd asked her age. "Yui-chan," he'd said gently, upon her response, "I'd like to ask you for a favor for now. But in a few years, I will have a job for you."

That first favor - to appear as a fortune teller in the vicinity of those she later recognized as Blade Children - led to several more. He'd given her a few hundred yen for each instance, along with a cell phone on which he could contact her. At first he only requested her assistance once every two or three months, but as she grew and her skills continued to develop, the favors came in every week. She only realized later, much later, that some of the research and hacking jobs she'd taken on helped his cases or aided the police in some manner.

And as promised, when she turned eighteen, Kiyotaka had arrived to assign her a job. "Today," he'd said, a sunny smile on his handsome face, "you'll be taking the train back with me. We're going to give you a new name, and then we're going to enroll you in Tsukiomi Gakuen."

Yui, who also happened to be a high school dropout, had stared at him as if he had two heads. She'd debated saying no. But then he'd offered her a monthly pension and her own apartment, and she'd really had no choice.

It took a full year of school and living alone in Tokyo until she learned that she - now Yuizaki Hiyono - had one very simple job: get close to Kiyotaka's younger brother, Ayumu, and support him in his efforts. That was all. And yet, that simple job had become so complex, so dangerous, so... _important_, by the end.

And when it came time to finish it, she'd been shocked to realize that she _didn't want to_.

She leans against the back wall of the hospital elevator as the doors close, shutting her eyes and rehearsing the lines again._ Narumi-san, there is something I want to tell you. And it's very important. Although Kiyotaka-san gave me the name Yuizaki Hiyono, I was never acting. Everything that I did to support you was from my heart. So, moving forward, I'd like you to understand that I have always been honest -_

The elevator slowly comes to a stop on a lower floor, and Yui opens her eyes. When the doors slide apart, she is just as surprised to see Narumi Madoka as the detective is to see her.

"_Oh_!" The blonde straightens, absently brushing off the front of her blouse and skirt, as if she's worried some stray crumb or thread might offend the older woman. "M - Madoka-oneesan, it's been ... a while."

"What a nice surprise." Madoka's smile is surprisingly warm, and she steps into the elevator, glancing at the panel on the right side. "Going up?"

"Y - yes."

"To Ayumu's room, right?" The doors shut, and that's when Yui notices Madoka carrying a paper cup of coffee with a lid, a purse slung over her opposite arm with a small paper bag peeking out of the top. "I just stopped for breakfast. It's a beautiful day, isn't it? Far too nice to be stuck at a desk solving petty crimes."

"Y - yes, the sunshine was very ... pretty this morning."

"I thought I'd give myself the day off and clean Ayumu's room. He keeps his area neat, but the places that he can't reach, well..." Madoka sighs and shakes her head as the elevator makes its way up again, slowing its ascent as it comes close to the selected floor. "It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't kick out the cleaning staff every time they make an appearance. He's so picky about who comes in his room."

"Narumi-san is?" The side of Yui's mouth turns up in a smile. "That isn't so surprising."

"He's not exactly a favorite patient here. Say, you heard about Hizumi, right?" The older woman turns her head to look down at the blonde, one navy eyebrow arched. "Ayumu's been asking to visit his grave. But it's a little too far from the hospital, and he's not well enough to go outside right now anyway. If you have a chance, could you put some flowers on it?"

"Oh... of course, Madoka-oneesan." Yui smiles. "If you can give me the location, I'll pay Hizumi-kun's grave a visit. I was meaning to anyway. I have a feeling I should thank him, after all."

"I've been thanking him a lot." The elevator doors have opened, and both women proceed into the hallway, walking in the direction of Ayumu's room. "The research performed on his body was invaluable. I know there's been other research and testing done outside of that - at least, that's what Kiyotaka-san told me - but there's now some hope that we can slow or even stop the deterioration of his left side. And in the best case scenario, there may be a chance to reverse some of the damage." There's a long pause, their silence broken only by the sound of nurses speaking in hushed tones at a nearby station; when the older woman speaks again, it's after a long sip of her coffee. "I suppose we'll know the kinds of odds he's facing once he's out of surgery today - "

Yui nearly trips over her own two feet, and barely manages to continue walking. "Wh - _what_? Su - _surgery_?!"

"He didn't tell you?" Madoka only raises one eyebrow, because maybe it's not really a surprise, to her, that he didn't. "On his arm. They're trying to repair some of the nerve damage, something involving cells and injections and... ah, it's way too complicated for me. Kiyotaka-san understood it, though."

"Axons," she says, softly, and before the older woman can ask she forces a smile and nods. "That's ... it's okay. I'll come back in a few days. But please, Madoka-oneesan, if you could pass Narumi-san a message from me, I - "

"You can tell him yourself," Madoka interrupts, and her smile isn't forced, "tomorrow. He'll be allowed visitors in the morning."

Yui opens her mouth, closes it, then sighs. "That Narumi-san," she murmurs, "telling me to come back and see him today... if he knew he was having surgery, then..."

"Well, maybe he just forgot. Or maybe he wanted to make sure you watered his flowers." Madoka grins, sliding open the door to Ayumu's room - and sure enough it is empty, quiet and dark thanks to the curtains having been pulled shut, but even in the dim light Yui can see her yellow daffodils blooming in their vase on the table. "But I'll take care of them, Hiyono-chan. I'm sure you have more important things to - " She stops, suddenly, looking back at the blonde. "I'm sorry," she says, more quietly than before, "I just realized - I don't really know your name, do I?"

And the younger woman speaks without thinking, smiling, because it's the first time in two years that anyone has called her by _that_ name, and all at once she's remembered just how good it felt to have it. "For now," she says, turning on one heel to leave, "Hiyono is fine."


	4. my best III

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter four - my best (part III)

* * *

She waits until the afternoon to visit him. The sky is clouding over and it looks like rain is on the way, but her mood is no less sunny.

"Hello, Narumi-san!"

He grunts in response. She crosses the room to his bed, glancing once at the daffodils on his bedside table. There's a chair beside him and she settles into it, crossing her legs and smoothing out her messy hair. "How was your surgery?" she asks.

"Fine."

"Any complications?"

"No." He isn't looking at her; his left arm, covered mostly in bandages and attached to an IV, lies still by his side, and his right hand holds a book that his nose is nearly buried in. "Except for neesan lecturing me this morning."

"Oh?" She smiles. "Because you forgot to tell me about your surgery?"

"I didn't forget." She sees him frown. "You would have been worked up over it. I didn't see any reason to say anything."

"Hmm. So… you were trying to keep me from worrying?"

"... something like that."

"Well, thank you." He glances her way - finally - and she brightens her smile. "I'm glad you are recovering now. Do you know what will happen after this?"

"Hn." His gaze shifts to his left arm. "I'll start physical therapy in a few days. And there will be steroids and medications administered to support the surgery." His eyes move back to his book. "If I respond well to treatment, I may regain some movement."

"That's wonderful!"

"If you can call taking fifteen pills a day wonderful."

She falters, her lips parting, and can't quite keep the smile from leaving her mouth. He notices her change in expression, glancing at her again for barely a second. "Don't get your hopes up," he says. "Even with all the research my brother's put in, and the tests conducted on Hizumi's body, it will be difficult to reverse the degeneration."

"Don't you…" She purses her lips. "Don't you want to… fight, Narumi-san?"

"Ah." He flips a page with his thumb, repositioning the book in his hand. "I've fought enough. I set an example so that the Blade Children could defeat their curse. The probability of my survival past age twenty is less than five percent. And the quality of life I would have even with that chance - "

"But don't you want to fight for that?" Her voice is unsteady. "Not for the Blade Children, anymore, but - don't you want to live?"

He sighs. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"Narumi-san, please - "

"I know everyone wants me to defy the odds." He turns his head to meet her eyes with his own, speaking slowly and clearly. "But I can't fight forever. If my body gives up, I want to die in peace."

She feels her hands begin to tremble, and curls her fingers until freshly painted nails dig into her palms. "You're right." she says. "Many people care about Narumi-san, and want him to live a long and happy life. We want you to defy the odds - that much is true. But if you don't want to fight, for yourself, then…" She stares down at her knees. "... then … we can't force you. But I've never known Narumi-san to face such improbable odds and simply give up. I would expect that from anyone else, but not you…"

"Is that why you came back here?" She hears him snort. "To give me a pep talk?"

"I - "

"You've always been something like my personal cheerleader. But that kind of devotion ends with your contract to my brother. If it's dissolved, you can stop pretending to care."

Her head snaps up; anger swells up in her chest, and she draws in a sharp breath, raising her voice. "_Pretending_?"

He calmly flips another page in his book. "Even two years later, you're still playing a part. I thought that time away would have snapped you out of it."

She stands so quickly that she nearly knocks over the chair; it teeters dangerously on its back legs before settling back down, wood smacking hard on glossy tile. "I never - "

"Don't lie to me," he interrupts, "anymore." His voice is firm, dark, completely unlike him. "And if you plan on going on going on another life-saving mission to Europe, or making some kind of scientific career for yourself out of my disease, you might as well stay away from me from now on."

She stares at him, mouth open, for nearly a minute. The anger gradually chills and dies, dropping low into her stomach. When she finally realizes that he has no intention of speaking to her again, she slowly - reluctantly - turns and walks to the door. And behind her, she hears Ayumu flip another page, the low hum of the IV machine the only other noise in his room, and that's how she leaves it, leaves _him_ \- quiet, cold, and alone.

* * *

Since childhood, Yui has been a calm, collected, positive person. She rarely raises her voice, even in times of stress or anger. Even so, it's hard for her not to scream into her phone when Kiyotaka answers her call.

"_What did you tell him_?!"

The detective is quiet for only a few seconds - but that's too long, to her. "We... should talk, Yui."


	5. my best IV

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter five - my best (part IV)

* * *

She knows she can't blame Kiyotaka for telling him. But she does anyway.

"I had no idea he would react this way." The detective is frowning into a cup of coffee, steam rising nearly to the tip of his nose. His office is quiet - she's never visited him at work before, she realizes - but she can hear footsteps and conversation somewhere outside, beyond the closed door. "Before his surgery, his physician told him about the gene therapy process. He explained that the technology had been investigated and experimented with abroad." The tall man sighs. "This morning, Ayumu asked me what I had sent you away to do, and what it had to do with his surgery. I thought he would be appreciative."

"He seemed…" Yui presses her knees tight together, folding her hands on top of them. "... upset, with me."

"He said that he should have been asked about the research before it was done. That it should have been his choice to undergo the surgery, not mine." Kiyotaka shakes his head. "That you shouldn't have been dragged into it again."

"I wasn't… dragged in. I was the one who volunteered…"

"I explained that. I told him that you had greatly aided the research into the regeneration of axons, and that your actions directly led to the new technology and procedures used in his surgery."

"I…" She stares at her hands, feeling helpless and sad. "I upset him. Maybe I… maybe I _should_ have asked, before I - "

"No." He shakes his head again. "When you left, Ayumu knew that we wanted to fight for him. He knew we felt that it was owed to him, based on all that he accomplished. There were no objections, back then." He lets out a breath. "However, I fear that… without my noticing, something has changed. Based on what he has said to me… he seems tired. It is a hard fight that he has been going through, and it will only get harder. I asked a psychiatrist to visit with him this week, assuming that he may be depressed. But knowing him as I do, I doubt that he will speak with anyone about his feelings."

"He said that…" She swallows. "That he can't fight forever… and that if his body gives up, he wants to - to - " These words, these terrible words, are so hard for her to say. "... die in peace."

"Ah." Kiyotaka lifts his cup of coffee to his mouth, seems to think better of it, and places it back on his desk again. "Truthfully… Ayumu may feel as if there is nothing left for him to fight for."

"Why?"

"The Blade Children are living comfortable lives. Madoka and I have reconciled our… well, _my_ differences. And you are safe, released from my contract." He shakes his head slowly. "At the end of everything, he wanted nothing more. Now that all of this has been accomplished, what is left for him to desire?"

"Why doesn't he…" She struggles to put her words together, to give voice to her cloudy, jumbled thoughts; she finally meets his eyes with hers, and something about the way he looks at her makes her feel sad, helpless, almost ruined. "He… doesn't want to live for his own sake…?"

"Ever since the very beginning, Ayumu has desired almost nothing for himself." His voice is quiet. "He needs a reason to fight. A reason to seek the happiness that everyone around him has found. But living for the sake of being alive isn't enough motivation, right now. And based on what he said to you… I fear that it may never be."

She lowers her head and is silent. Tears burn behind her eyes, but she does her best to fight them off, promising herself that she can cry later, when she's alone, not now and not ever in front of him of all people. "What can…" she whispers, "... what can I do?"

Kiyotaka seems to think about this. He finally drinks from his cup, one sip followed by several more, and it's after he sets his mug down on the desk again that he answers. "Two years ago," he says, "you were the most important person in the world to him. Even after he realized the truth, he cared deeply about you - beyond what even he expected." He pauses. "I suppose it would be inappropriate to ask how you felt about him, in return - "

"Highly," she interjects, but the word comes out sad and strained instead of angry.

"... but even so, Yui, if there is any kind of chance to inspire him again… it would come from you. You are the person who knows him best, even now. And whether your reason for wanting him to live is selfish or unselfish, or some combination of both, I am sure that you could find a way to grant him the happiness he is missing."

She doesn't know what to say to him. Since she's come back to Japan, she's been made speechless so many times, left so many conversations abruptly, without warning. It's as if she's forgotten how to cope with emotions, she thinks. And maybe she has. Luckily, it's then that Kiyotaka's phone rings and he answers, forcing enthusiasm into his voice, and she takes that opportunity to slip quietly away.

She only makes it halfway through the walk home before she bursts into tears. And everything she ever felt about Yuizaki Hiyono, about her role as the constant companion to a messy-haired boy with the mind of a genius and logic that could never be broken, comes flooding back to her from its shallow, half-heartedly dug grave.

She never did get to say those words to him.

_Although Kiyotaka-san gave me the name Yuizaki Hiyono, I was never acting. Everything that I did to support you was from my heart. So, moving forward, I'd like you to understand that I have always been honest with you. And no matter what happens, Narumi-san, I want to be by your side. Because that's the thing I want most in this world._


	6. come undone

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter six - come undone

* * *

She's never quite admitted to herself that she loves him.

She came close, once before, just after they'd said goodbye. She'd stood there and watched him walk away, his earring clasped in one of her hands, and she'd cried until she thought her eyes would run dry. She'd sworn early on that she wouldn't feel anything for him, that she would never do anything as unprofessional as developing feelings for the person she was supposed to be watching -

But she had. She would admit that much, then, and she'll admit that much now. But she won't say that she loves him, because it wouldn't be right. Because he wouldn't want it.

That's what she tells herself, anyway.

It's pouring when she makes it to the hospital, out of breath from running, Kiyotaka's words still practically ringing in her ears. _Ayumu collapsed. He's not responding to the treatment. Can you come?_ Under normal circumstances, she knows he wouldn't be admitted visitors, but these are not normal circumstances.

She leans against the back of the elevator as it ascends, panting, her umbrella hanging by her side and dripping all over the floor. She doesn't want to think that this is it. That this is the end. That he's giving up the fight. She's only been back a little while, and she never got the chance to say those words to him, the words burning a hole in her heart.

But this isn't about her. She knows that. It is about him. About the person she would give anything to spend her life with.

Kiyotaka and Madoka are speaking quietly outside of his room when she arrives; she slows her pace as she makes her way up the hallway, not wanting to interrupt - or to seem desperate. When they notice her, Kiyotaka clears his throat, turning away from his wife with a grim expression. "He's resting now."

"Is he…" There are a hundred ways she could end that sentence and she doesn't like any of them.

"He'll probably be alright." Madoka answers, glancing once at the closed door of Ayumu's room. "Physically, that is. He hasn't been himself since the surgery, and…" She shakes her head, slowly, something in her expression hinting at helplessness. "He's not… fighting, anymore."

Yui swallows. "May I see him?"

"If anyone can talk some sense into him, it would be you." Madoka steps aside. "Please."

"Thank you," the younger woman responds, and slides open the door to enter the room. She hesitates when she sees him - when she sees the sleeve of a hospital gown rolled up to make room for IVs and bandages spotted with blood, when she sees the paleness of his skin, when she sees the dust cover closed on his piano - but she presses forward, closing the door behind her. "Narumi-san," she says, softly, carefully, "it's… me."

She's surprised to hear him respond; his eyes are closed but he is awake, breathing evenly, an oxygen line discarded around his neck. "I thought I sent you away for good."

"You should know you can't get rid of me that easily," she tries to joke. She walks slowly to his bedside; she notices that her daffodils are gone from the table, but the vase remains, and she makes a mental note to bring more flowers. If she can. "Kiyotaka-san asked me to visit you, so I… wanted to see how you were feeling…"

"Fine."

"_Fine_?"

"As bad as this looks, I can't feel much of anything." His voice is flat, almost dull. "I fell on the way back from the restroom this morning. It isn't anything you should be concerned about."

"Narumi-san, you can't stop me from being concerned."

"Hn. Unfortunately."

"And you can't send me away for good, either." She shakes her head even though he's not watching, looking down at him in the bed and wondering if he has always been so skinny, if his face has always been so drawn. And she knows the answers, but she doesn't want to think about them. "I want to be here."

"Why?"

It's a simple question, but there's no simple answer. There's not even a complex one. There isn't an answer she can give, not without admitting something she promised she would never, ever, ever admit. So instead of doing that, she leans over his bed and brushes the hair away from his left ear, looking down at the silver hoop that shines there. And when he opens his eyes to look up at her, she tucks her hair behind her ears to show him the silver studs on both sides with a matching silver hoop on the right.

"I kept it," she says, softly.

He looks up at her with half-lidded eyes the color of chocolate, with dry lips that are slightly parted, and it seems like forever until he speaks. "You never told me your name."

She blinks. "My name?"

"The real one. Not the one my brother gave you."

"It's," she begins, and wonders if she should do this but really has no choice, "Yui."

"Yui," he repeats, and closes his eyes again. "That's it?"

She looks down at him, still and fragile in his hospital bed, and after a moment she reaches for the chair that is always near his bedside. "Can I tell you a story, Narumi-san?" she asks. "It isn't very long, but… if you're willing to listen…"

"I'm not going anywhere," he says, and what might be a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. And she can't help but smile, too.

She settles into the chair, dropping her wet umbrella on the floor, and begins to talk. She tells him everything - about how she was abandoned at birth, about her life as an orphan, about growing up without her family. She tells him about how Kiyotaka found her. She tells him about dropping out of high school, only to be taken to Tokyo and put back into Tsukiomi. And she tells him that the name she was given at the orphanage was Yui, that she is twenty-one years old now, and that she has spent two years in Europe helping to research gene therapy and axon replacement, all the methods and means by which his life might be saved.

When she finishes, she thinks he might be asleep, and she's just about ready to be indignant when he opens his eyes. "If all that is true," he says, "why are you still here?"

"Wh - what do you - "

"If you're no longer under my brother's contract, why are you still here? Why bother coming back?" He lifts an eyebrow at her. "Don't you have better things to do?"

She wants to scream at him. She wants to ask him why he doesn't understand. Why he can't just see how much she cares for him, why he doesn't realize that she gave up three years of her life for him in one way or another, why he doesn't look at her and see how devoted she has been to him, all this time, how much she wants to stay by his side -

But she's never actually come out and _said_ any of that, has she?

So how could he possibly understand?

She bows her head. She swallows. And she knows that she's an idiot, but lord help her, she _has_ to say something. Because as smart as Narumi Ayumu is, he probably doesn't realize how she feels.

Not that she does, either, but that's not important.

"Because the thing I want more than anything in this world is to be by Narumi-san's side," she says, and the words come easily, as if she's rehearsed them (and she has). "Because… because I don't want to leave you alone. I believe in you, Narumi-san, like I always have. Even though I was doing what your brother asked me to, everything I did… it was all real. I - "

"Why did you go to Europe?" he interrupts.

And this time her answer is unrehearsed, is just the first thing that pops into her head, but it's better that way. "Because I wanted you to live."

He's silent for a moment, and then he chuckles weakly. "Shouldn't that be my decision? To live or die?"

"Yes," she admits, and lifts her head, swallowing down the perpetual lump in her throat, "yes, but… if Narumi-san decided to live, then… I wanted to help him any way I could."

"And now?" He looks at her closely. "If I decided to live?"

"I would… do anything I could to help."

"Even if that meant going away and never coming back?"

She sucks in a breath. Her chest tightens. And her heart threatens to break.

But she knows what to say, knows what he wants to hear. "Yes, Narumi-san. Even if that meant… going away."

"Hm." He turns his head away and closes his eyes. "I'll think about it."

"... Naru - "

"I knew you were playing a part," he says, suddenly, "before my brother told me. But even after I figured it out, I didn't want it to be real." His voice is low. "Would you have waited for me to come back, even if I had killed him that day?"

"The Narumi-san I know wouldn't have killed Kiyotaka-san," she answers, and lifts a finger to touch the hoop in her ear. "But even so… my loyalty has always been to you."

"Why?"

"Because that's the way it should be."

"Yui," he murmurs, and then he sighs. "I liked your other name better."

And she can't really come up with anything to say to that. So she sits there in silence, watching him until he really does fall asleep, breathing evenly, his head turned to the side just enough to reveal the silver hoop in his ear. Eventually she rises from the chair, picking up her umbrella, and leaves the room.

She won't come back, she tells herself, until he makes a decision. And if this is the end, then…

Then, she thinks, with a parting look over her shoulder as the door slides closed behind her, everything will be how he wanted it. And that is what is important. Not her feelings, not her sacrifices, not the promise she made to him. All that matters is that _he_ is happy.


	7. fools like me I

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter seven - fools like me (part I)

* * *

_one month later_

* * *

Yui looks at her phone, her bottom lip curled up into her mouth and secured there by her teeth.

_Come here._

She's read this two word text message at least a hundred times since it arrived an hour before. It's not attached to a name in her phone, but she knows who it's from. His number never changed, after all, even if hers did.

She wonders, briefly, how he got her contact information. From Kiyotaka, most likely. But she can't imagine Ayumu outright asking his brother for the phone number of his former contract employee. Still, that isn't important. The important thing is...

_Come here._

It's barely seven in the morning; the chirp of her phone had woken her. She lies on her futon, the blankets messy around her, and doesn't know what to do.

She's kept her distance from the hospital since her last visit. Kiyotaka has updated her on Ayumu's condition, sending her a brief text message every few days. The news had been grim, at first… but then, gradually, his messages had grown longer, more detailed - more positive. And the last one, sent the evening before, had nearly driven her to tears.

_He's responding well to physical therapy, and his overall health has improved significantly._

_He's asking for you._

She sighs deeply, staring at her phone, and thinks back to the previous month. The only thing that had mattered to her was his happiness. And that's all that should matter to her now. Yet she can't deny that she wants to see him, even if only for a moment, and for entirely selfish reasons.

Well, she thinks, it really doesn't matter what the reason is. Because she's never ignored an order from him before, and she's not about to start now.

* * *

The hospital's visiting hours start at nine in the morning, and Yui is in the elevator at 8:59 sharp. She cradles a small bouquet of imported tulips in the crook of one arm, and she glances at them as she rides to Ayumu's floor, wondering if she should have gone with the irises instead. She knows they're cliche by now, but they had looked so fresh and vibrant, and they'd been just a little less expensive than the tulips - Oh, but it doesn't really matter, she thinks, shaking her head. She's nervous and she knows it, and no amount of debating the right choice in flowers will alleviate the stress.

She's halfway down the hall when she hears something - the faint strains of music - and stops in her tracks. Her eyes open wide and she notices a small crowd around a particular door, _his_ door, a crowd made up of patients and nurses and even a physician in a long white coat. She collects herself and picks up her pace, and when she arrives to join the crowd it's just in time to see an elderly man with a walker heave a contented sigh. "No one plays Beethoven quite like Ayumu-kun," he remarks.

"It's beautiful," one of the nurses murmurs, a clipboard clutched to her chest. "I haven't heard this kind of music in so long."

"His recovery is going well," the physician chimes in; then, noticing Yui standing at the back of the small group, smiles widely. "Ah, and it seems he has a visitor. Have visiting hours started already?"

"Yes," she answers, returning his smile, "and Narumi-san is expecting me, so - "

The piano suddenly stops. The group seems to collectively hold their breath, and there's a long pause before a voice can be heard, faintly, from within the room: "The show is over for today."

Glances are exchanged, but Ayumu's audience dissipates without a word, and one of the nurses gives Yui a smile and a nod before she starts down the hallway in the direction of her station. Once the crowd has gone, the blonde-haired woman clears her throat and steps forward to knock, twice, on the door.

She hears his voice again, faint but sure, and her heart skips at least one beat. "Come in."

And she does, without introducing herself, and as the door slides open the piano starts up again. She almost stumbles as she enters, closing the door quickly behind her, as if this music is for her alone, is a secret only she is allowed to share with him. Her eyes adjust to the light and she sees him sitting up on the edge of his bed, facing his piano, covered in sunshine that pours in through the open windows. He is dressed in a shirt and pants instead of a hospital gown, a portion of his arm is wrapped in a cast -

And he is using his left hand to play the piano.

She stands there in the doorway and listens, just listens, her heart beating so loud and fast that it threatens to drown out the music. She doesn't recognize the piece, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. It's a long few minutes before the chords and notes finally slip away, his room filling with silence, and he sits still at the piano for a moment before she hears him clear his throat. "You came."

"How did you know - " She starts, but stops herself; it's really pointless to ask, because he's always had excellent hearing and not even the degeneration of his body could change that. "... yes, Narumi-san," she says instead, "I did."

"Ah." He looks over his shoulder. "Good. You brought flowers. My brother's been trying to put nothing but irises in that vase of yours. I keep throwing them away, but I don't think he's getting the point."

Yui smiles, and as she moves to unwrap the bouquet of tulips and slide them into the waiting vase on his bedside table, she silently congratulates herself on finally making a good decision. When she's finished and the cellophane wrapping has been thrown away, she turns to see him shifting in his bed, a low grunt escaping his lips as he slides away from the piano and leans back on the raised portion, his head settling into a pillow. "Well," he starts, and nods slightly at the empty chair waiting by his bed, "are you going to sit?"

"If… if that's okay…"

"Of course it is. I wouldn't have told you to come if it wasn't. Stupid girl." He grins as he delivers the last two words, and she isn't sure whether to smile or laugh or cry or do all three, so in the meantime she sinks into the chair and folds her hands tight together in her lap. He watches her closely, even with his head on the pillow, and doesn't waste any time before he starts to speak. "I owe you an apology."

She blinks, starts forward in her chair, and opens her mouth immediately to protest. "Narumi-san, I - "

"No." He holds up a hand - his left hand. "Stop. I don't need to save face." He exhales loudly before he lifts his upper body off of the bed, allowing his hand to settle back down on the mattress as he moves into a sitting position. "I'm sorry. I was cruel to you. And you did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment."

She closes her mouth, presses her lips together, and nods. Not because she agrees, but because she knows full well that he wants her to accept his apology.

"Good. Now." He looks to the open windows on the other end of his room, to the bright blue sky and white clouds drifting lazily by. "That's not the only reason I asked you to come here. You don't have to listen. If you want to get up and leave, I won't stop you. But you said your piece, and now I'd like to say mine."

"I'll listen." She inches forward on her seat. "To whatever it is you have to say. I won't leave."

"Alright." He draws in a breath and holds it; when it's released, it's in time with his head turning back, his eyes fixing on hers. "Do you remember what I told you before you left, two years ago?"

She remembers all of it, every word, but she thinks confessing that would sound strange and perhaps a little desperate. "Which part, Narumi-san?" she asks instead.

"Well, I said something about not wanting to make you cry. I don't remember how it went, exactly, but that was important to me. I didn't want you to be sad about doing the job for my brother, or leaving for your next task. I held my head high so you would be proud." He chuckles. "For some reason, I was concerned about your well-being. I thought you would start sobbing the second I walked away to go to the train station."

Yui tries very, _very_ hard not to fidget, or clear her throat, or do anything else that might indicate his being absolutely, positively correct. She remembers full well what a mess she had been. "Is that so?" she asks.

"Ah. And even now, I'm worried about doing anything to upset you. So the way I acted, the last few times you were here…" He draws his eyebrows together. "Somehow, I didn't realize how much my negative thinking was impacting you. But it did impact you, didn't it?"

"... yes," she confesses, lowering her head. "I was… a little upset."

"Is that why you stayed away from me?"

"I thought that… that was what you wanted." She swallows. "Since you said something about me… going away and never coming back… it seemed like that was the kind of thing you wanted, so that you would be able to make the decision to live."

"Hm." There's a short pause; she hears him shift in his bed with another low grunt. "That's what it sounded like to you?"

"Yes. But if I was wrong, I - "

"You shouldn't even think about blaming yourself. If that's how it sounded to you, that's probably how I said it." He sighs. "Truthfully, I've spent the last few months in some kind of downward spiral. I wasn't talking to anyone about it, but it seems as if a few people noticed. That's why I was so harsh when you were here. I had allowed negative thinking to completely take over my mind."

She glances up, watching him extend one arm to run his fingers over the ivory keys of his piano, and she catches a glimpse of a silver hoop in his left ear. "When I was first admitted," he says, "I did everything in my power to stay positive. I knew that the Blade Children were watching me closely, and that their well-being depended on my fight. So I fought as hard as I could against my condition. And as a result, it seems many of them - at least the ones we know, Rutherford and the others - have made it past their twentieth birthdays."

"That's wonderful, Narumi-san."

"Ah. It is." He nods. "But after that… I started to feel lonely. They stopped visiting me as often. Rutherford is off touring, and it sounds like Asazuki and Takamachi are doing well in their classes. Aniki and neesan have made up, too. So as everyone else was able to make a new life for themselves, I was left to wither away in my bed. I wasn't even able to see Hizumi before he passed away - although that was his choice, not mine." He pauses again, pressing one key on the piano, a low, long note echoing in the room. "I started to question whether or not life was worth living. If there was any purpose to my struggle. Somehow, I never once considered making the decision to live for my own sake. I didn't know that I could."

Yui glances at the tulips in the nearby vase. "So… that is why you acted the way you did, the last time I was here?"

"Yes. I had grown so tired of fighting by then, and I didn't think I had any reason to keep going." He turns his head to look at her again. "But something you said, about wanting me to live… about doing anything in your power to help me… it made me realize how selfish I had been. How I'd blindly made the decision to give up without considering just how hard everyone had been fighting for me. Even while I was lonely, everyone was working to research a cure for my condition, trying to find a way to improve my quality of life. Including you."

"Yes," she agrees, softly, "including me."

"After the last time you were here, my brother came in and yelled at me. He told me how upset you had been. And he told me everything about your role in all this, instead of just the pieces I had asked about before." He smiles slightly. "Part of me had been stubbornly insisting that you must have been acting the whole time you played the role of Yuizaki Hiyono, but he told me that your directions had been minimal at best. So it seems the "stupid girl" I spent so much time with was more real than I thought."

"Narumi-san, I - "

"You weren't acting," he interrupts, and she senses how important this question is, how much it means to him, "were you? When you were with me - was that the real you I was depending on? Were you encouraging me because you were told to, or was it because you truly believed in me?"

She shuts her mouth, then opens it again. "I was never acting," she responds, with a slight shake of her head. "I promise. And when I told you I believed in you… it was because I really _did _believe in you. It was all true. The only thing that was different was my name."

"I never acted, either." He doesn't look away. "Even after I figured it out."

"I..." she starts, but she doesn't know what to say. "Narumi-san..."

"My brother counted on me relying on you. He even counted on me having feelings for you. Whether you realized it at the beginning or not, his plan was to use you to break me. And he failed." His voice grows softer. "I've had more than two years to think about this. For most of that time, I was convinced that he failed because I was stronger - more logical - than he was. And I tried to tell myself that it was because I didn't care about you at all - because you weren't real to me, in the end. But the truth I've been running from, all this time, is that you were _always_ real to me."

She feels the twinge of something hot behind her eyes and instantly knows she's going to cry unless he stops. "Na - Narumi-san, I..."

"Don't," he chides her, gently, with a shake of his own head. "I did rely on you. And I still want to. If you still want to be by my side... who am I to tell you no?" He smiles. "And if that's the reason I can find to keep on living… because I don't want to make the person who supported me and believed in me sad… then that's the reason I will hold on to. It's better than any other one I could find."

She immediately begins to cry. She can't help it. They're tears of relief, of happiness, tears that she's been holding back since the last day she lived as Yuizaki Hiyono, and she covers her eyes with her hands and chokes back her sobs so they aren't so loud. Ayumu doesn't say anything, but she hears him shift on his bed, and after a minute there's the gentle press of a hand on one of her shoulders. "I'm sorry," he murmurs. "If I said something wrong…"

"No," she chokes out, and almost laughs at the absurdity of him thinking that, "no, I'm… I'm relieved… I'm sorry, I - " She hiccups, wiping at her eyes. "I can't stop…"

"I made you cry after all."

"It's not a bad thing…" She lifts her head, and this time she does manage to laugh, if only because she wants to show him that it's okay, that she's going to be fine. He's sitting on the edge of his bed, facing her, his knees on either side of where her legs are pressed tightly together, and all she can think for a moment is how much healthier he looks. "I'm fine," she insists, and forces a smile, wiping at her eyes again as the tears begin to slow. "I needed to cry a little…"

"Hm. I understand." He releases a sigh, almost as if he's relieved, too, and squeezes her shoulder lightly before lifting his hand. It's a surprisingly affectionate action, and that on its own is almost enough to stop the steady flow of tears. "I cried, too. Two weeks ago."

"Why…?"

"Because I realized I'd managed to chase you away." One corner of his mouth turns up. "It's just like me to scare off the one person who really cares about me. You were willing to go anywhere my brother asked if it meant you could save my life, and all I did was yell at you for making that decision without consulting me. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be able to move my left hand right now."

"Oh… your hand…" She reaches out carefully, pressing the tips of her fingers to the top of his left hand, trying to ignore the way her movements are unsteady and unsure. "Is it... is it... okay?"

"I've been regaining functionality." He gestures to the cast on his left arm, thin and clean white, stopping just below his elbow. "The surgeon says he expected my hand and upper shoulder to partially recover, but not to be usable. I've exceeded that expectation."

"Can you... feel with it?"

"Ah. The nerves have been repaired enough that I've recovered some sensation, too."

"A - and you were really... playing the piano with it?"

"I was. Although my wrist is sore from physical therapy. Chords are too difficult." He frowns slightly - then, all at once, his face brightens and he laughs. "I probably shouldn't be complaining. A few weeks ago, I couldn't even feel the entirety of my left arm."

"That's wonderful, Narumi-san..." She smiles, drawing her hand away. "You seem... so much happier..."

He looks at her, one eyebrow raised. "Are you going to cry again?"

"Yes," she answers, and tears well up in her eyes. "I'm so… I'm happy, for you…"

"Knock it off." He shakes his head, exhaling loudly. "You're going to make me feel like a jerk for making you cry twice in one day."

She reaches up to wipe at her eyes again, sniffing, and tries to smile. "You_ are _a little bit of a jerk."

"I suppose I am. You liked to call me mean, back then." He grins, leaning forward, propping his chin up in one hand. "Do you still think I'm mean, now that I've called you here to pour my heart out to you? I'm very vulnerable right now. You could probably make _me _cry in just a few words."

"Could I?" Smiling is getting easier, and she giggles softly, sniffing again. "So if I told you something like… "no, Narumi-san, I don't accept your apology, and I think you're mean," you'd be upset enough to cry?"

"Hmm. That's harsh. But I'd only frown."

"So something more like… "you are the meanest person I have ever met, and…" um…" She stops, trying to think of something more to add to this line, and comes up short. "I can't really think of anything…"

"Really? That's the best you can do?" He snorts. "You really aren't a very mean person, are you? I could think of a hundred hurtful things to say to make you cry, and you can't even come up with one?"

"I - I don't usually sit around trying to think of mean things to say to people!"

"I can tell."

"That should be one of my good qualities, you know!" She folds her arms tightly together, pouting. "One of _many_ good qualities I have."

"Hm. That's actually the only one I know of."

She gasps. "Narumi-san!"

He throws his head back and laughs, loudly, and the sound sends a shiver down her spine and a flush into her cheeks. He grins when his eyes meet hers again, and she knows, knows for certain, that something really has changed within him - that she's seeing not only the Narumi Ayumu from two years ago, the one full of wit and logic and too much deep thought for his own good, but also bits and pieces of a brand new Ayumu, one who can laugh and smile and banter with her as he fights for his life, for the right to keep moving ahead in this world -

Oh, and it is good, so good, to hear him _laugh_. And she knows now just how much she loves that sound.

How much she loves _him_.

She might as well admit it, she thinks, absently rubbing at one of her flushed cheeks, because it isn't going to go away. He's all but confessed to having feelings for her, so what's the use of trying to pretend that she doesn't have any for him? After all, she did go to Europe for him, learned about gene therapy for him, worked for Kiyotaka for him. Everything was for him, out of love for him, out of a desire to one day stand by his side and be accepted for who she was - _is_ \- and to be a part of his life. That's what she wants, isn't it?

That is what she wants. Him. And nothing else.

"We have some catching up to do," he says, and pats the place beside him on his bed with one hand. "Come up here. This is more comfortable."

"A - are you sure, Narumi-san?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Now hurry up and tell me about Germany before I kick you out of my room again." He grins a grin that she is very much beginning to love, and as she rises to take her place beside him on his bed, she hopes that this day, this change in him, is the beginning of something wonderful.


	8. fools like me II

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter eight - fools like me (part II)

* * *

_three weeks later_

* * *

Yui looks at the screen of her cell phone as she steps into the hospital elevator and giggles again.

_Who in the world would want to hire YOU? Aside from my brother, that is._

From what she remembers, Ayumu was never very keen on text messaging while in high school. He'd complained more than a few times about Hizumi sending dozens of messages a day, even while they were sharing the same house and only a room away. As Hiyono, she'd only ever exchanged a few messages with him - usually questions about bentou boxes that were confirmed with brief messages of "yes" or "fine."

But now that he's in the hospital, and has regained the use of his left hand, Ayumu appears to have become quite the texter.

Yui doesn't even get a chance to respond to this latest message before her phone chirps again. _Are you here yet?_ the screen displays, and she smiles as she presses the the number for his floor on the elevator's control panel without looking. She's been at the hospital every day for the better part of the month, and somehow he hasn't complained about her coming around too much, or bothering him right after physical therapy.

She'd call it a miracle, but she's beginning to think it's something else entirely. Something else she never thought to expect.

_On my way~_ she texts back, watching the doors close in front of her. A few seconds later, as the elevator starts to slow its ascent, her phone chirps again.

_Did you remember to bring the books?_

She glances at the canvas bag slung over her shoulder and smiles a little wickedly.

_Oh no!_

A few minutes later, when she slides open the door to Ayumu's hospital room - not bothering to knock or announce herself - she is met with the sight of a rather annoyed brown-haired young man sitting in a wheelchair, a cell phone in his lap. "How many times," he starts, wheeling toward the door, "do I have to ask you - "

"I was just joking, Narumi-san." She laughs, allowing the bag to slide from her shoulder to her forearm. "Madoka-oneesan added a few of her own, in case you read all these."

"That's a poor joke to be making at a time like this." He wheels all the way up to her, taking the bag from her and peeking inside with a grunt. "I've been out of reading material for a week. I've lost count of the times I've gone through the complete Sherlock Holmes collection, and those cases do not prove any more difficult to solve with repeated readings."

She laughs again, smiling down at him. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes. Well. No." He lifts his head, raising an eyebrow at her. "Why, exactly, did you find it necessary to get a job?"

"My rent won't pay itself, Narumi-san…"

"My brother will."

"No, he won't." She sighs. "He only paid for my first two months, and with my contract dissolved… I can't exactly ask for any more money unless I go back to working for him, or with some other agency that would want to send me back to Europe, so…"

"Point taken." He spins his chair around - how he has managed to learn that skill so quickly, Yui thinks she will never know - and deposits the bag of books on his hospital bed, which looks untouched. She wonders if he's been in the wheelchair all day. "A transcriptionist, though?" he asks, with his back still turned. "Wouldn't you be better as some kind of… hacker, or actress, or spy? Maybe you could make a business out of masquerading as a high school student."

"Very funny…" She sighs a second time, reaching up to twirl a lock of hair around her fingers. "Madoka-oneesan referred me for the position, and my typing skills were better than they expected. I'm very lucky that there was an immediate opening for a police transcriptionist… and that they weren't very concerned about the two year gap in my records…"

"What did you tell them, that you were studying abroad?"

"Um…"

"... never mind. I should have figured you'd come up with an excuse like that." He wheels back around, slower this time, and looks up at her with a serious expression. "I want to go outside."

"Wh - what?!" She stares at him. "_Now?_"

"Yes. Now."

"Na - Narumi-san, are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"Hn." He picks up his cell phone, glances at it, and tosses it over one shoulder onto his bed. "It's boring in here. Neesan's been going on and on about how nice the weather is lately, and yet I'm stuck here in this room."

"But I thought…" She bites her lip. "I thought that your immune system…"

"I can't get hurt if I'm only outside for a few minutes."

"But - "

"I asked one of the physicians about it," he interrupts; then, rolling his eyes, nods at the open door of his room. "He said it shouldn't be an issue, as long as I have a - and I'll quote him directly - _responsible individual_ with me. Because apparently _I_ can't be trusted, now that able to use a wheelchair again."

Yui shifts from one foot to the other, clearing her throat. "Well… Madoka-oneesan did say that the hospital was almost on lockdown when you decided to go to the cafeteria unaccompanied last week…"

"I'm like a prisoner in this place."

"It isn't that, Narumi-san, but… we're all just not used to you being able to get around so easily, and we're worried about your health, so…" She sighs. "I'm sure it's fine, if you want to go outside for a few minutes, but it's not very nice out right now. There were a lot of clouds gathering, and I think the forecast was calling for rain - "

"A little rain won't kill me." He wheels himself past her, to the door, and a small grin appears on his mouth. "And if it does, you can say "I told you so" and be happy with yourself for_ finally_ being right."

Yui sputters, crosses her arms, and decides a few seconds later that there's no point to arguing with him, especially since he's already moving out the door. Once Ayumu makes up his mind, there's really no way she can change it.

But that's not really such a bad thing. Usually.

* * *

"How long has it been?"

"A year, at least."

"I can't imagine…"

"I had the windows in my room opened as often as the nurses would allow, but after I caught a cold and nearly gave myself pneumonia over the winter, they stopped listening to those requests." Ayumu chuckles, shaking his head, and Yui can't help but smile down at him. They've gone to a small courtyard in the rear of the hospital, a grassy area with paved sidewalks and a few small flowerbeds. The sun is hidden behind gray clouds, and it really looks like rain, but…

"This is nice." Ayumu breathes in deeply, exhales, and shakes his head again. "I forgot just how fresh the air was, out here. And warm."

"Summer's going to be here soon."

"Ah. Maybe I can open my windows again, then." He looks somewhere into the distance, squinting slightly. "Although I'd rather leave before it gets hot. Two summers in this place sounds like torture."

"I'm…" She hesitates, tapping two fingers against one of the handles of his wheelchair. "... not sure if you'll be released so quickly, Narumi-san…"

"Hm. We'll see." He turns to look at her. "How often are you going to be here, now that you're starting this job of yours? I assume it's full-time."

"It is…" She smiles carefully. "But I asked if I could work an earlier schedule, so that I can spend the first part of my day in a quiet atmosphere. So I'll be able to come visit you every afternoon, usually by five. Ah, and if Madoka-oneesan comes to visit on lunch, she promised I could come with her."

"That's…" He pauses, as if he's carefully considering his words; when he finally speaks, it's with a slight grin and a raised eyebrow. "... better than I was expecting, somehow."

She opens her mouth, closes it, and blinks at him. She's really not sure where to start with that one. So he's actually happy that she's planning to continue visiting so often? "Narumi-san," she starts, slowly, "are you sure that… you don't mind me coming here every day?"

He snorts. "Don't get any ideas."

She makes a face at him. "I wasn't!"

"Your company is _marginally_ better than my brother's. You bring flowers that aren't irises. And for some strange reason, I don't get tired of making you mad." He shrugs, but that grin is still on his mouth, so she knows he's at least partially joking. How much of that he means, though… "Besides, you owe me for being gone for so long."

She sighs loudly. "I don't really understand how I owe you for spending two years doing research to save your life."

"Hm. Haven't I told you my theory yet? That you were spending two years in Europe pretending to do research while you just spent my brother's money on expensive clothing and Belgian chocolates?"

She recoils. "Narumi-_san_!"

He laughs. "Well, we'll know for sure if my arm suddenly stops moving again, right?"

"You - are - urgh!" She crosses her arms, walking a few paces away from him. She hears laughter behind her, and she tries her hardest to ignore the urge to smile, because it's really not funny. Of course she spent those two years researching. Of course, she did buy a nice dress or two in Germany, and a pair of very fashionable heels in Paris, but that is _not_ the point! The point is…

"Hey." He's beside her before she can even think to turn around again, and although his lips are still curved into something resembling a smile, he seems more serious than before. "I was just joking. Don't get mad."

"But you like making me mad, don't you?" She sticks her tongue out at him. "You can't fool me, Narumi-san. I know the only reason you want me around is to torture me with your hurtful words."

"If that was the only reason, I'd have already told the nurses to stop letting you in my room."

"Cruel…"

"Anyway. If you're going to be coming to visit around this time every day, I'll get permission to go outside every afternoon." He nods at his left arm, lying still in his lap. "It'll help with my physical therapy to use my wheelchair more. As long as the weather is good, and I don't get some kind of cold, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay, Narumi-san," she agrees.

"And eventually," he says, now looking pointedly at his left leg, "I want to go to Hizumi's grave. Even if I'm still in this damn chair, I want to see him."

"That's fine." She smiles. "I'd like to put some more flowers there."

"And another thing." He looks up at her. "Stop calling me "Narumi-san" all the time."

"What?" She blinks. "Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Narumi-san, that's not a good reason."

"I don't need a good reason." He rolls his eyes. "You talk to me like I'm some old man. The least you could do is use my name once in a while."

"Oh? And you're any better?" She puts her hands on her hips, leaning down to frown at him. "The only thing I ever hear is "hey" and "you." It's never changed since we were at Tsukiomi together, and I know you know what my name is this time!"

"Hn. That's not really the issue at hand here."

"Yes it is! I am _making_ it an issue!"

He opens his mouth to respond, but the dull rumble of thunder interrupts him. They look at each other, neither speaking, perhaps trying to decide whether or not it's worth ignoring the first sign of a storm, and then Yui feels a raindrop on her arm.

"We should go inside," she murmurs. "I think it's about to storm…"

"Is it?"

Another raindrop lands on her skin, and she quickly moves to grab the handles of Ayumu's wheelchair. "I'm not going to get in trouble for this, Narumi-san. We're going inside."

"Hm. It is." He answers his own question, seemingly ignoring her as she begins to push him up the path in the direction of the back doors of the hospital. He holds up one hand, tilting his head up to look at the gray sky. "You should probably push faster. The rain isn't going to wait for you."

She scrunches up her face even knowing that he can't see it. "I can't push any faster than this! You're heavy!"

"Now, now, no need to insult my weight. I've actually lost a few pounds, you know."

She sighs. "Mou…"

* * *

By the time they make it back to Ayumu's room, the clouds have completely broken through, and the rain is coming down hard outside. There's rain in their hair and on their faces, but they've otherwise avoided the storm, and Yui quickly finds a towel with which to dry them both off. "I did say there was rain in the forecast," she murmurs, gingerly patting at Ayumu's hair. "But I don't think anyone noticed that we were a little wet, so…"

"Like I said. A little rain won't kill me." He ducks out of the way of the towel, waving a hand at her. "Quit that. I'm fine."

"Narumi-san, I don't want you to get sick…"

"I'm fine." He rolls his eyes. "But I need to lie down."

"Oh - okay! Do you want me to help you out of your wheelchair? Or get a nurse? Or - "

"Just - lend me your shoulder for a minute." He straightens in the chair, leaning up to hook an arm around her shoulders, and she feels a little stupid as he pulls himself easily out of his wheelchair and into the hospital bed. "I'm not supposed to use my legs," he explains (although she thinks he really doesn't need to), "so if I want to do this, I have to borrow someone for help."

"Your arms are getting stronger," she observes, watching him settle down in his bed before pushing the wheelchair out of the way. "And… I think your skin looks a little healthier."

"Hm. I guess." He takes his arm back, leaning into his pillows, and there's a short pause before he looks up at her with a serious expression. "Listen. About what you said outside."

"Y - yes?"

"Do you want me to call you by your name?"

She hesitates, and it takes her entirely too long to find her voice. She should be used to these rapid changes in topic by now, but somehow he always manages to catch her off guard. "I... Truthfully, Narumi-san," she begins, quietly, "I… needed to use a different name to take the position with the police department. So if it's okay with you, then… I'd like to ask you to call me that, instead of… my birth name."

"Oh?" He arches an eyebrow at her, then proceeds to shake the rain out of his hair. She shrieks as water splashes her in the face, scrunching up her nose at him, and the grin that appears on his mouth is far more handsome than she expects. "You're going to ask me to call you "stupid girl" again?"

"No!" She huffs at him, lifting the towel in her hands to wipe off her face. "Not at all!"

"What, then?" He studies her, lifting a hand to smooth his hair (and to flick a few more beads of water in her face). "Haven't you had enough names for one lifetime?"

"Hiyono," she answers him, and sees his eyes widen, and that sends her into a rapid-fire, nervous explanation; this is happening far sooner than she thought it would, and she isn't sure how he'll take it. "I... I was thinking that... Yui was a name that I was given when I was found as a baby, and taken to an orphanage. Hiyono is... it's real to me. And it's real to Narumi-san, too, isn't it? When I called myself Hiyono, it was the first time that I felt like a real person. And... that's why I was thinking about that. And it was easier to go back to it, for my position, but..."

He looks quietly at her, his hand still in his hair - but then, quick as a flash, he reaches out to touch her cheek. She shivers - his fingers are cold - and yelps as he grabs one of her wrists in his other hand and tugs her close, close enough that she can see a bead of moisture on his nose. She has to brace herself against his shoulder to keep from toppling over into his hospital bed, and it's an uncomfortable half-standing position she's in right now -

"It's a stupid name," he murmurs.

She tenses, swallowing hard, and her heart is beating so rapidly that she thinks it's going to leap up her throat. This is happening so _fast_. "B - but - "

"A stupid name," he continues, and that grin is back, makes her go weak in the knees, "for a stupid girl."

She doesn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream at him and storm out of the room. So she doesn't do anything at all. And she thinks for a moment, just a fleeting moment, that Narumi Ayumu may actually be about to kiss her -

"Listen," he says, suddenly, and releases her wrist, "I'm having another surgery tomorrow."

She freezes. His hand lingers on her cheek for a moment, but then it falls, and she straightens, watching him settle back in the bed. His room is quiet, and when she finally finds her voice again, the words come out unsteady. "On… on your leg…?"

"Ah."

"Why didn't you… say something… before now?" She swallows and folds her hands together; she realizes that she's shaking a little, and she's not sure if it's because of the skin-on-skin contact or the news he's just delivered. "Is it… was it an emergency?"

"No. Nothing like that. I've known for a while." The grin is gone from his mouth, and he looks up at her seriously, his eyes on hers. "It's the same as before. You would be worked up over it, if you knew any earlier."

She sighs. "Narumi-san…"

"It's nothing to worry about. They're trying to repair the damage on my leg before it gets any worse. Normally they wouldn't operate so soon after the surgery on my arm, but I asked for it." He nods at the wheelchair nearby. "I want a fighting chance at not being confined to that thing. And I want to get out of this hospital."

She studies his face, tilting her head slightly. "It's a little strange… hearing you say that."

"Why?"

"Just a few weeks ago, you didn't seem worried about leaving the hospital at all…"

"My thinking has changed since then. You know that." He shrugs. "So, if you want to come back tomorrow, make it a little later than you normally would. I should be out of recovery by the time you get here. I'll make sure my brother authorizes visitors, even if I'm sleeping."

"O - okay…"

"Oh, and another thing." He smiles slightly. "If you're not completely broke just yet, bring some flowers. If you don't, aniki will try to sneak in some irises again, and I won't be able to get out of bed to trash them."

She can't help but smile back. "Do you have any preferences?"

"Hm. Good question." He settles back in his bed, turning his head to look out the window at the rain, and just when she thinks he won't have an answer he responds: "Daylilies, if they're in season. They'll remind me of you."

"Eh?" She blinks. "Why?"

"No reason," he says, but she can hear the smile in his voice, and she knows there's _some_ reason for it. But she won't pry, because all that matters is that he wants to be reminded of her, and she really couldn't ask for anything more.

"Daylilies, then," she responds, and picks a book up off his nightstand. "Should I read to you for a little while?" she asks.

"Hmm. If you want. Don't you have to get ready for your new job tomorrow?"

"Not yet," she says, and smiles. "Nothing is more important than being here with you, right now."

He turns his head back to look at her, one eyebrow slightly raised, and then he chuckles. "Fine," he replies, "but if you start messing up like you did last week, I'll be the one doing it. For a woman who went through high school twice, you're not very good at reading aloud."

She sighs loudly. "If you weren't confined to this bed, Narumi-san, I'd throw this book at you."

He grins. "From what I remember, you don't have a very good throwing arm, either."

"You really are a jerk sometimes…"

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

And he's right, but there's no way she's going to tell him that.


	9. fools like me III

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter nine - fools like me (part III)

* * *

She meets Kiyotaka and Madoka in the hallway the next evening, carrying a bouquet of bright yellow daylilies in one hand and a thick hardback novel in the other. Kiyotaka smiles when he sees her approaching the door, calling to her from halfway up the hallway. "How was your first day of work, Yui-chan~?"

Madoka makes a face at her husband. "Don't yell! You'll disturb the patients!"

Yui waits until she's closer to respond, smiling politely at the couple. "It was very pleasant, thank you," she answers, with a nod at Madoka. "I'm very happy with it."

"That's good. I heard you had the fastest typing speed ever recorded in our tests." The older woman shakes her head, sighing. "Somehow I'm still unable to do much more than thirty words a minute…"

"Was…" Yui glances to Kiyotaka. "... was Narumi-san's surgery… a success?"

"It's a little too early to tell, but there were no unexpected complications." He motions to the door. "He's resting now, if you'd like to visit. Madoka and I are going to get some coffee."

"We are?"

"Yesssss," he says, hooking his arm through his wife's and tugging - hard - "we are!"

"Kiyotaka - _urgh_!"

Yui watches, dumbfounded, as Kiyotaka practically drags Madoka away from the door and down the hall in the direction of the elevator. She feels a little sorry for Madoka, but now that they're gone…

She swallows, stands up straight, and tucks the heavy book she's carrying under one arm. She knocks softly on Ayumu's door twice, but there's no response. When she cautiously slides the door open a few inches and peeks inside, she finds it almost dark, save the soft glow of an IV machine on the left side of his bed. She wonders if he's sleeping, but…

"Narumi-san?" she ventures, quietly. "It's… me."

"I know." His voice is hoarse, but his tone is gentle. "Come in."

She does, quietly shutting the door behind her. In the dark she fumbles to deposit the lilies in the waiting vase on his table and place the book on the other side, but she manages not to spill anything or knock over the rest of the books that have been piled there. When she comes to the side of his bed, she sees him lying still, almost flat, his head and shoulders propped up by pillows. There are IVs attached to his right wrist, and the sheets are pulled up to cover his legs and most of his body. "Narumi-san," she breathes again, looking down at him, "how are you feeling?"

"Tired," he murmurs. "And sore."

"Your leg...?"

"Unlike my arm, I can still feel everything in my leg. As soon as I came out of the recovery room, I was in pain." He exhales, turning his head on the pillows to face her. "But whatever's in this IV is helping."

She smiles. "Morphine, probably."

"Ah." He looks up at her. "Come here."

"... huh?"

"Sit." He pats the bed with his right hand. "Or - actually, lie down. I'm not strong enough to sit up right now."

"Wh - why… would you want me to…" She feels heat creep up into her face, and she wrings her hands together. "Is there… even enough room for me to…?"

"Yes, there's room. And I've been waiting for you to get here since I woke up two hours ago. So the least you can do is keep me company."

Yui hesitates, but she doesn't want to argue with him - not now. She cautiously moves to sit on the edge of his bed, but when she looks down into his face she sees him wearing an annoyed expression. She feels her blush intensify, but she carefully shifts on the bed to lie down beside him, keeping as close to the edge as possible. There's a long pause, the silence in his room only broken by the dull hum of the IV machine, and then he exhales. "That's better."

She clears her throat, pressing her head into one of his pillows. "Your brother said that… the surgery went well."

"So I'm told." He's watching her, his brown eyes fixed on hers, and she wonders if there's something he wants to say - but should he even be awake right now? He looks tired, and she thinks she sees dark circles under his eyes. "I'll start physical therapy on my leg as soon as the incisions heal."

"Will you still be working on your arm…?"

"Yes. Both at once." He tries to clear his throat, but his voice is still hoarse, not quite what she's used to. "My leg was degrading at a much slower rate, thanks to the medication I started taking a few months ago. I still had feeling, but not much movement. With the repairs made to my nerve endings, I should be able to regain some mobility. But it's harder to recover mobility in a leg than an arm, or something like that… I don't remember what they said."

"It's because of the difference in mass," she says, softly. "And Narumi-san's leg wasn't moved as much as his arm, after he came to the hospital, so…"

"If you say so. You're the expert on my health, after all."

She sighs. "That's not really it…"

"Hn. Come closer."

"Wh - what?!"

"I said," he starts, and reaches out to take her by the shoulder, "come closer. I'm not infectious."

"B - but…" she murmurs, but Ayumu's asking her to lie beside him on his bed, closer than she's ever been to him before, and does she really want to protest? No, actually, she does not. So she obeys, moving until she has no choice but to touch him, her shoulder and arm pressing to his. "Is that okay?" she asks quietly.

"It'll do." She hears him exhale. "You're the only person who has bothered to touch me in months. Everyone else seems to think I'm contagious. Neesan hasn't hugged me in almost a year."

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. I brought it on myself. I was acting cold to everyone, after all."

"But even so… that doesn't mean that Narumi-san shouldn't be hugged, every once in a while. So many people care about him, so…" She swallows, trying to summon up all her courage. "Would it… make you feel any better, if I - ?"

"Hm. Here." He shifts in bed, raising his right arm, and she thinks she understands what he's getting at. Her heart starts to pound, but she moves closer to him anyway, rolling to lie on her side with her head resting beside his. He stretches his arm around her back, and when his hand settles on her shoulder and stays there, she feels heat rise up into her cheeks. "Hm," he murmurs, "that's…"

"Is it - is it okay, for me to be this close, right now?" She barely recognizes her own voice, unsteady and high-pitched. "I'm not going to hurt you, am I?"

"No. You won't. This is much better." In the low light, she can see his eyes drop from her face to below her neck, and she realizes that the front of her blouse has shifted down quite a bit -

"Narumi-_san_!" She yanks up her shirt. "Were you - ?!"

"_Much_ better," he murmurs, with a low chuckle. "I didn't realize you had anything to offer, in that department."

"You - y - you…" Yui's face is on fire. "Narumi-san shouldn't be looking at… me, like that…"

"You're the one who wore that shirt."

"You're the one who told me to lie in bed with you!"

"Now, now. Calm - " He coughs, suddenly, turning his head away, and she forgets all about her embarrassment. She watches him, worried, but he doesn't cough again, looking back to her with a soft sigh. "That hurt," he mutters, hoarsely.

"Are you alright…?"

"Fine." His eyes meet hers. "Sorry."

"It's alright…" She manages a smile. "I'm just a little nervous, being this close to you, so… I think I overreacted…"

"Why would you be nervous?"

Her cheeks grow warm again. "Well… I've… um…"

He lifts an eyebrow. "Never been this close to me?"

"R - right…"

"Hn. Well, get used to it. We'll be like this a lot more often from now on."

She gapes at him. "... are you delusional, Narumi-san?"

"No. Drugged, but not delusional."

"Is there really a difference…?"

"Listen," he begins, his voice low, and she immediately stills. She's always understood the importance of this word - that when he says it, it's because he's about to tell her something important, something she won't want to miss. And even now, while he's half-asleep and attached to an IV, she knows the words he's about to speak will have meaning of some kind. "I granted you a wish, once," he tells her, his eyes fixed on hers, dark and serious in the low light. "Now will you do the same for me?"

"A - _anything_," she returns, eagerly, perhaps a little too quickly, but what does it matter? She _would_ do anything for him. She learned German, gave up hacking, and became educated in the field of gene therapy for him. What _wouldn't _she do? "If there is anything I can do, please… just ask."

"I'm planning on it." She sees his lips twitch, as if he's trying to hold back a smile. "But you have to promise not to say no."

"Why would I…?" She pauses, blinking. "It's - it's not going to be anything - _weird_, is it? It's - it's bad enough that you looked down my shirt, Narumi-san, but - "

"No. Nothing weird." This time she knows he's trying to keep the smile off of his face. "You're the one with weird wishes. Mine are far more practical."

She sighs. "Fine, then… what is it?"

The room is silent for a moment, and then he speaks, his voice warm and sincere, and at the sound of the three very simple words that escape his mouth, Yui thinks her heart is going to burst. "Stay with me."

She doesn't say anything at first. A thousand thoughts run through her mind, and there are a thousand ways she could respond. But then she realizes he is still looking at her, watching her, and she swallows and inhales and blurts out the very first thing that makes it from her brain to her mouth: "I will be happy to grant your wish, Narumi-san."

"... ah." The smile finally appears. "That was easy."

"I was already planning on staying, so…"

"Before I asked? Hm. That's quite an assumption to make about my feelings."

"Even at a serious moment like this, you're joking about everything…" She sighs again, wondering if he can hear her heart beating, considering how loud it is; she feels him shift in the bed and tighten his arm around her back, and after just a second of consideration she moves closer to him, burying her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder. He exhales, apparently surprised, but all she wants is this, right now. Uncertainty be damned - this is as much of a confession as she will ever get out of him, and it doesn't matter what kind of drugs he's on. "Narumi-san," she murmurs, "you didn't have to ask me to stay. I told you… nothing is more important than being with you…"

"Still. I wanted to hear you agree to it." She's surprised by how close his voice is to her, now - how much richer it sounds, even though his words are still hoarse and occasionally weak. "I needed to know if you meant it."

"I really don't lie very often…" She closes her eyes. His bed is more comfortable than she expected, and she's enjoying the feeling of his arm around her, the way her head seems to fit perfectly beneath his. "But… Narumi-san is sure that it's me he wants, even with everything that's happened…?"

"Mm." His breath is warm on her ear, and she feels his fingers begin to toy with a few strands of her hair that have settled around her shoulder. "None of that matters. You're here now. So am I." He yawns suddenly, loudly, and grunts low as he moves his leg. "At least… I think I'm here. This might all be a dream."

"Are you going to remember this tomorrow?"

"If I don't, I expect you to remind me." She hears a grin in his voice. "Just tell me I managed to get you into bed and got a good look down your shirt. It'll jog my memory."

She opens her eyes. "I _swear _I am going to hit you."

"You would hit an injured man in a hospital bed? That's terrible."

"Not if I'm provoked."

"It's still terrible. The nurses would drag you out of here kicking and screaming. No one would believe your story."

"I'm beginning to reconsider my decision to grant your wish…"

"Hn." He grunts again, and she feels his body shift in the bed; she sits halfway up, concerned, and sees him shake his head. "I'm fine. Don't move. My leg is just sore."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes." His fingers slip further into her hair, and he pushes carefully on her back, guiding her back down to lie beside him. She settles down again, although it's with reluctance, and there's a pause before he speaks again, his voice soft, so gentle it makes her shiver. "I don't want this to end just yet. I've waited a long time for you to be here."

"... h - have you?"

"Yes." He looks at her with warm, half-lidded eyes, his fingers still wound loosely through her hair, and when he shifts on his bed again, it's to close the distance between them. He presses his lips gently to her cheek, and when he does, it feels like a lifetime of waiting has ended for her, too. She holds her breath, stunned, watching him, trembling as her face burns with a blush as hot as a fire -

"Hiyono," he murmurs into her ear, and she doesn't correct him. It is her name, after all, it's the name she wants and the name she _needs,_ it's the connection to the person she has wanted to be all this time, the connection to _him_ -

"Can I?" he murmurs, his gaze flicking to her mouth, and she realizes what he's asking. And oh, oh _god_, she prays he remembers_ this _in the morning.

"Please," she murmurs, and she's desperate and shameless and she knows it, but she's wanted this kind of love for ages, wanted nothing more than to know that Narumi Ayumu loves her and only her, that it's real love, that they've defied everything, every odd in the name of it. And she knows a single kiss doesn't necessarily mean that…

But it does. For them, it does.

Their first kiss is short, so gentle it feels like a whisper, and does nothing to satisfy her hunger - or his. The second is warmer, longer, more meaningful - and then the third takes her breath away, because it comes with him moving closer, his fingers winding all the way through her hair. She slips an arm around his neck and holds onto his shoulder, gasping as he lingers on her bottom lip for a moment before pulling away, messy brown locks brushing against her forehead. "Hm," he says, quietly, as their eyes open, "not bad."

"Narumi-san," she murmurs, dazed and blushing, "if… if you hadn't just done that… I might have really hit you."

He grins, and she knows that it's all over, that there's only one thing she can focus on now, only one purpose she has for living - and it's him, just as she always wanted it to be.

He really does love her, after all.

"I'm tired," he murmurs, with a short sigh, his fingers still toying with her hair, his eyes fixed on hers. "And any minute now, my brother is going to come barging in here, yelling about something or another, and you'll have to leave."

"Do you want me to - ?"

"No. Not at all." He leans close again. "Not until I make up for some more lost time, at least."

She giggles nervously, but she doesn't have any objections. And when it comes to Ayumu kissing her, she doesn't think she _ever _will.

* * *

Yui doesn't have much luck sleeping that night.

It's nearly midnight when she hears the familiar chirp of her phone, and she rolls off her futon to retrieve it, her heart immediately starting to beat a little faster. She has to be at work in seven hours, but somehow she'd known that she would get a message from him, and she'd wanted to wait.

_Was that a dream?_

She smiles, laughs softly, and composes a message to send back.

_I don't think so, unless you're asking about something else that happened today._

Her phone is silent and still for nearly a minute - and then it begins to ring and she nearly shrieks in the dark, caught completely off guard. When she answers, it's with an unsteady voice and a shaky hand. "H - hello, Narumi-san."

He speaks quietly, probably to avoid getting in any kind of trouble. "That really happened?" he asks.

"... yes," she answers, softly, and starts to wonder if maybe it was a mistake, if he hadn't meant to kiss her or ask her to stay -

"Good," he says, and her heart beats a little faster, a warm feeling growing in her chest. "Although I hadn't really planned on saying anything yet, I'm glad I did. Even if it was under the influence of morphine."

"So… you don't regret anything?"

"No," he answers quickly. "Do you?"

"Not at all." She smiles, cradling the phone closer to her ear. His voice just isn't the same, right now, hoarse and distorted by the phone, but she loves it anyway, wants to hear it even more than she already does. Something about the way he speaks just seems right, to her. "It made me very happy to know Narumi-san's true feelings."

"Heh. I figured you would say that."

"And now I know that the secret to getting you to talk is to give you morphine."

"... that's not funny."

She laughs anyway, closing her eyes, and rolls onto her back. "After some of the other things you said earlier… I think I have to catch up on my jokes a little bit."

"Hm. Maybe." There's a pause, and she hears him exhale into the phone, his voice growing softer when he finally speaks again. "You're really going to stay, then?"

"As long as you'll let me, Narumi-san."

"Good." She can hear the smile in his voice. "Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow," she agrees. "Good night."

"Good night," he says; then, with warmth in his voice, "Hiyono."

She closes her phone, places it beside her futon, and closes her eyes. And as she lies there in the dark, she makes a mental note to ask Kiyotaka for a favor - one that involves changing her name again, for good this time.

She'd say goodbye to Yui, but she's not going anywhere. She and Hiyono have been the same person, all this time. The only difference - the only one that matters - is that the person she loves chose to call her one name instead of the other.

And truthfully, secretly, she's always preferred Hiyono, anyway.

* * *

**Author's note:** You might want to read my short fic "different names for the same thing" now... because it takes place after this chapter! I would have mentioned that earlier, but I didn't want to give anything away. :)

Thanks to everyone who's followed this or left reviews recently. I'm so glad to know there are still Spiral fans out there.


	10. the one

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter ten - the one

* * *

_four months later_

* * *

It's nearly midnight. Visiting hours are long since over. And a patient is missing from his bed.

"You have a rebellious streak in you after all."

"Narumi-san should have realized that years ago."

"Ah. I suppose you did sneak into the school with a bag of weapons."

"And I shot Kanone-san with a tranquilizer dart."

"That's right... I forgot that was you."

"Y - you forgot?!"

"Hn. I was in pain." Ayumu shifts in his wheelchair, one hand reaching to his side. "Give them here."

Hiyono - officially Yuizaki Hiyono now, again, and with the documents to prove it - hesitates, chewing on her bottom lip. She hadn't been nervous about sneaking Ayumu up to the roof, but she is nervous now, because she knows exactly what he's planning to do and _really, Narumi-san, did it have to be the roof?_ "Are you sure?" she asks, with a glance at the wooden crutches she's holding. "If... if anything goes wrong, then - "

"Then I'll fall over. Relax. We're far from the edge, and I don't plan on pushing my luck." He looks up at her, making a come-on gesture with his hand. "That is," he adds, as she reluctantly passes the crutches to him, "I don't plan on pushing it any more than I already have."

"Really…" The blonde woman sighs. "Nothing Narumi-san does surprises me anymore. If you really wanted to, I'm sure you could do a handstand right now…"

Ayumu grunts, securing a crutch in each hand, a grin turning up one corner of his mouth. "After all this physical therapy, I wouldn't doubt it. My arms are stronger now, after all." He glances up at her, then nods. "Stand back."

She does, taking a few cautious steps away from his wheelchair, her heels tapping lightly on the rooftop. He isn't supposed to be standing on his own yet, nor is he supposed to be on the hospital rooftop at just a few minutes from midnight, but after a year in the hospital, well… Narumi Ayumu does things his own way, and no amount of objections can stop him once he's made up his mind.

That isn't necessarily a _bad_ thing, though. Hiyono would rather see him stubbornly insist on living his own way than she would see him the way he was months before, lying alone in his bed, having accepted his own demise.

She's glad to be breaking the rules with him now, just as she broke them with him years before.

As she watches, the brown-haired young man uses his crutches to get to his feet, nudging the wheelchair back with his right shin. He leans heavily on the left crutch, allowing the right one to clatter noisily to the rooftop after just a few seconds, and Hiyono catches the hint of a grimace on his face. "Narumi-san," she starts, softly, "you don't have to - "

"Yes," he counters, and straightens, frowning at his left leg, "I do."

Almost a minute goes by before his left crutch joins the right on the ground in front of him. Ayumu stands, unsupported, his arms slowly lowering to hang by his sides. He takes a step with his right foot, then his left, and then his right again. And then, much to the surprise of his companion, he throws his head back and laughs.

"Narumi-san?" Hiyono blinks at him. "What's… what's so funny?"

"He won," he says through his laughter, shaking his head. "That bastard. In the end, he knew this would be the outcome."

"Eh?"

"Hizumi." He straightens again, chuckling, looking over his shoulder at her. "He always said I would be the one to survive. Right before he died, he told my brother to use his body as a tool to save mine. Aniki didn't tell me at first, because if I'd known…"

"You would have refused?"

"Of course. But it's his victory now. He said I would live, and here I am." He chuckles again, smiling slightly. "Today is his birthday."

She starts, feeling her eyes widen. "Oh - it is?"

"He was a little older than me. He would have been twenty today." He turns his head up to look at the sky, at the stars, perhaps searching for something unknown and unreachable in them. "If there is a heaven, I thought he would want to see this."

"That's… wonderful, Narumi-san."

"Hm. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to stand here much longer, as much as I'd like to - "

"Understood!" Hiyono scurries forward, picking up the crutches that have fallen at his feet, and passes them back to him quickly. He grunts just once as he slips them under his arms, shifting to take the weight off of his left foot, but he doesn't move in the direction of his wheelchair. "Well," the blonde says, smiling up at him, "is that all you wanted to do tonight, then?"

"Not quite." He studies her expression for a second or two, as if he's trying to decide what to say or figure out how she's going to react; she barely has time to wonder which before he speaks again. "There's something else I want to do, with your help. And now is as good as a time as any to talk about it."

She straightens, smiling. "Anything you need, Narumi-san, I'll do!"

"Anything?"

"Of course!"

"Well, then." He starts to grin. "I want to leave the hospital."

Her mouth drops open. "I - "

"Next month."

"_Narumi-san_!"

"And," he goes on, and he's grinning that grin of his, that cheeky, borderline obnoxious grin that is still so new to her and yet so very loved, "I would rather jump off this roof than I would move back in with my brother and neesan. So I'm counting on you to find a place for the two of us to live."

She presses her lips together, opens her mouth to respond, then realizes precisely what he's said and gasps. "U - _us_?"

"Someone will need to help me continue my physical therapy. And I doubt you'd be content to let me live on my own while I'm still not moving around very well."

She sighs heavily. "That may be true, but… I don't think Madoka-oneesan will approve of us living together…"

"She'll never approve of anything I do. You might as well get used to it now." He leans on his left crutch, grunting softly. "But I have to admit I'm glad that you objected on those grounds, and not because you didn't want to stay with me."

Hiyono purses her lips, swallows, and manages a smile. "It's a scary idea, but… I know Narumi-san needs me, so why would I object?"

"You're that devoted to me?"

This time the smile isn't forced. "It's a habit."

Ayumu laughs, shaking his head. He reaches down and takes one of her hands in both of his, looking down at her with a serious, unrelenting gaze. The roof is silent around them, the late summer air hot and sticky. "Do you," he begins, "really want to stay with me? Even knowing that my recovery isn't guaranteed?"

"Yes."

"Even though I may still succumb to my condition in the future?"

"Yes, Narumi-san."

"Even though I'm a clone of someone you hate?"

She scrunches up her nose at him. At this he chuckles, squeezing her hand, and there's a short pause before he speaks again. "This won't be easy," he continues, "for either of us. And if you decide to give up, I won't blame you. But if anyone could do this… it would be you."

"There is nothing I want more in this world," she says, softly, with a nod. "I want to be with you."

"Well, then." He bends slightly, leaning forward on his crutches. The kiss is long and sweet, and when they part, Hiyono sighs, stepping close until she can rest her head against his shoulder. "I should apologize again," he murmurs, "for saying those things to you before I came to my senses… for acting the way I did. I could have lost you."

"It's alright."

"You shouldn't always forgive me so easily." He chuckles into her ear. "I'm not the hero of this story, after all. I'm not always right. You're the one who fought the hardest for all of this."

"No," she disagrees, "that isn't right. You've been fighting, too. Your physical therapy has been really hard, and your surgeries have been difficult, and - "

"But none of that would have happened without you." She feels him press a kiss to her temple, and her entire body warms over; she's still not used to these kinds of romantic gestures, especially because they are still so uncommon, thanks to Kiyotaka and Madoka now often being present when Hiyono visits. "Take some credit," he tells her, "for motivating me. For giving me the reason I needed to fight."

"Okay," she agrees, reluctantly. "But - "

"Stop."

"But - !"

"Stop or I'll stop you myself."

She draws back, looks up at him, and smiles. "And how exactly would you do that…?"

"Hm. I suppose I could throw you off the roof - "

"_Narumi-san!_"

"Oh, I see. You thought I was talking about kissing you." He shakes his head. "When have I ever been that predictable? You should know I have a history of throwing young girls from high places. Isn't that how we met in the first place?"

"You are _unbelievable_," she says, and grabs him by the collar. He grins all the way through the first kiss, and it's only after she punches him lightly on the arm and tells him to take her seriously for once that he does. They stand together on the roof with his wheelchair abandoned behind them for several minutes, alternately hugging and kissing and exchanging short verbal spars, and when they finally sneak inside again, it's with their hands clasped tight together on top of one of his crutches.

* * *

"Hey."

It's almost one in the morning and Hiyono hasn't quite figured out how she's going to sneak out of the hospital. All of Ayumu's ideas have been terrible, and an offhanded remark about her dressing up as a "sexy nurse" is still floating through her mind. _Does he really think I'm…?_ she keeps wondering, blushing all the while. "Yes?" she murmurs, opening her eyes.

"You can stay the night. This bed is big enough for two."

"Narumi-san, you would get in _so much trouble_ \- "

"I locked the door after we came back from the roof. I'm not due for medication until ten or eleven. And I've skipped breakfast before, so the nurses won't think anything unusual is going on." She can't see his face in the dark, but she has a feeling he's grinning. "Unless, of course, they hear any strange noises."

"... don't say things like that."

"What? You're the one who made that weird sound - "

Hiyono rolls over and swats at him blindly in the dark; she thinks she hits his shoulder but she isn't quite sure. His bed really_ is_ big enough for two, and they've been sharing it for well over an hour now, passing the time with quiet conversations and the occasional tangling of limbs, and - well, she's learning a_ lot _about what Ayumu thinks of her. "I told you I - that I couldn't help it!" she hisses. "I'm - a little ticklish!"

"Hm. Is that so?"

"You would make the same noise if I kissed _you_ there!"

"I doubt it."

She grits her teeth. "Narumi-san - "

"Listen," he says, and she immediately closes her mouth, relaxing, and when his arm slides around her and pulls her close, she's happy to settle down with her head on his chest and one hand searching for his in the dark. "I'm serious about leaving the hospital," he tells her as their fingers twine together. "And about living with you."

"I know you are…"

"If you want me to be selfish, that's what I want." He exhales softly. "This kind of thing… it's not anything I've ever experienced. I still feel a little strange, indulging in it. But if you really want me like this…"

"I do." She smiles, tucking her head beneath his chin. "More than anything else."

"So you'll find somewhere for us to live?"

"I will." She giggles quietly. "But on one condition."

"Oh no."

"I want at least one meal cooked by Narumi-san every day."

"Hn. Assuming I remember how to cook. But that's fine."

"Good! Oh, and I - "

"You said _one _condition." His voice is dry. "Don't push your luck."

"I'm _not_!" She sticks her lower lip out in a pout, even though there's no chance he can see it in the dark. "All I was going to say was that I want us to find something close to the hospital, so that it will be easier for you to come back for therapy. I don't have a driver's license yet, so…"

"Ah." He shifts in bed, one of his arms tight around her back. "As far as that is concerned, whatever you want is fine."

A few minutes later Hiyono is nearly asleep, and she's just conscious enough to figure that she really _can't_ help it; his bed _is_ big enough for two, after all, and it's more comfortable than her futon by far. But then Ayumu snorts into her ear and she's wide awake, opening her eyes and blinking the sleep out of them. "What? Narumi-san? Did you - are you - "

"Nothing. Just thinking about something."

"... eh?"

"Wondering what it was like when my brother found out you were in love with me."

Hiyono draws in a breath, holds it, lets it go. "Well," she begins, slowly, softly, finding one of his hands in the dark again, "I didn't quite… _tell_ him…so…"

"As if you had to."

"B - but I - "

"You went to Europe for two years to become a researcher because you thought it might my life. Since you've gotten back, you've barely left my side. And you changed your name back to the fake one you used when you were playing the role of my constant companion. Don't even tell me it's not obvious." He snorts into her ear again. "Somewhere between our final meeting and your first flight to Germany, I'm sure he figured it out. _I_ may have taken a little longer, but aniki's a smart man, when he wants to be."

"... mou," she murmurs, defeated, and sighs. "Actually… there was one time, a few months after I left, that…" She hesitates. She shouldn't be telling him this. But it's almost one in the morning and she's tired and the circle of Ayumu's arms feels like home, so there's really no reason _not_ to tell him. He'll find out anyway, eventually. "I had appendicitis, and… I had to be hospitalized for a few days. I don't remember, but in the recovery room after my surgery, the nurses said I was…" She sighs. "... screaming about hating a man named Narumi Kiyotaka for poisoning my relationship with his younger brother."

"Oho, so that's how it was…"

"Unfortunately… um… you see, your brother was visiting at the time, so…"

Ayumu_ laughs_. The sound is a little mocking, but it's still warm and very much welcomed. "Of course you would do something like that," he says, with another snort, and then he bends to kiss her. Hiyono decides to forget all about being indignant or objecting to this, to anything he wants to do or say right now, because it is just so good to hear him laugh, to be beside him, to be wanted and needed and the one he has chosen to stay with.

She forgets all about what Kiyotaka might think, about the nurses possibly discovering them in the morning, because nothing really matters except the two of them, the sleepy summer evening, and the comfortable bed they share in his hospital room.

But in the morning, she thinks, after she's slept, she _will_ smack him for making fun of her.


	11. more than this I

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter eleven - more than this (part I)

* * *

A few days later, Hiyono finds herself having tea with Eyes Rutherford in his loft.

It's a strange, awkward situation, she thinks, but it's also absolutely necessary.

"You see, Rutherford-san," she is saying, holding a delicate little teacup in her hands, choosing to look at the amber liquid inside instead of at the young man across from her, "Narumi-san... well, it seems like he does know who's been paying for his hospital bills. Even if your intention was to avoid speaking about it…"

Eyes laughs low; it's a sound that she's not used to hearing, but she's glad for it. "I thought that he might come to the correct conclusion, eventually."

"Narumi-san has a lot of pride." She bites at her bottom lip. "But... because he needs just a little bit more time in the hospital, and knows that he will also need physical therapy... I don't think that he will refuse your kindness."

"He has done a great deal of good for the Blade Children. I see my contributions as an absolute necessity."

"Ah. Well, the truth is, Rutherford-san, I..." She swallows, finally meeting his eyes with hers. "I was hoping that you would be able to make one final... contribution."

He nods. "Of course. How may I assist?"

"Um, well..." She fidgets. She can't believe she's doing this. But she really has no choice. "Narumi-san has decided to leave the hospital as soon as he can. He says that he doesn't want to spend any more time there. He is still aware that... that his health might decline, but... it seems that he is determined to go home, even if there is that risk."

"I see."

"But the problem is... um... well, Narumi-san will only leave on one condition. And - and it's really - well, I will completely understand if you don't agree, Rutherford-san, but..." She sighs, looking down into her tea again. "He's been saying that he doesn't want to live with Kiyotaka-san or Madoka-oneesan anymore. And if they found out about this, I'm sure they would be mad, and cause problems. But Narumi-san wants to live independently. He's very determined. But if his family won't agree..."

Eyes seems to have already done the mental math. "You would like me to secure a living space for him?"

"Y - yes. Something like that. But knowing all that you have contributed already, Rutherford-san..." She shakes her head. "I was hoping to ask you for a loan. Just enough so that I am able to locate a suitable apartment and purchase a few necessities. I have been working as a transcriptionist for a few weeks, and the pay should be enough that I am able to cover Narumi-san's rent and groceries. But I haven't had enough time to save money for a deposit, and I won't receive any sort of down payment back from the apartment I am occupying now." She glances up at him. "So... that is why I am asking for your help. I know Narumi-san won't be happy, when he finds out that I did this. But if I am able to pay back any money I borrow from you, I know he will be satisfied."

The pianist looks at her in silence for a moment - then, with a nod, rises from his couch. "Please wait here a moment," he says, moving to exit the room. He returns quickly, carrying a black leather-bound checkbook and a silver pen, his face blank. "I assume you have done preliminary research on the costs," he says, settling back down into the cushions. "How much will you need?"

She fidgets again. She hates talking about money. It's always made her uncomfortable - probably because she's always had those kinds of conversations with Kiyotaka, and he'd always left the amount of pay she received entirely up to her. "Well," she begins, slowly, "I am looking at one of two buildings within three blocks of the hospital, because Narumi-san will need to continue his physical therapy on a weekly basis. A deposit will range between seven and nine thousand yen - and it seems they are non-refundable. Beyond that, since Narumi-san has some furniture already, he won't need very much, so..."

Eyes raises an eyebrow at her. There's a pause. And then he clicks the pen, opening his checkbook. "Thirty thousand yen."

"R - R - Rutherford-san, that's really - that's too _much_!"

He chuckles quietly. "I am about to embark on a world tour that will last more than fifteen months. Thirty thousand yen is perhaps one percent of the profit I will receive from my booking fees alone."

"I understand that, but - but - "

"Please." He writes swiftly on the face of the check, his blue eyes fixed on the movement of the pen. "Had you asked, I would have offered far more. I urge you to reconsider your thinking of this as a loan. It is a gift." He tears away the check and hands it to her, nodding once. "But if you insist on repaying me, I will refuse anything beyond the initial deposit. The rest must be kept. Use it as you desire."

She exhales, carefully accepting the thin slip of paper from him, folding it in half. "Narumi-san really won't be happy..."

He chuckles again, placing his checkbook and pen on the small table between them. "I am sure he will understand. If he is willing to accept your generosity, he should accept mine as well."

"Yes... it is true that I'm planning to pay for what I can, but..." She reaches for her purse, tucking the check safely inside. "Another one of Narumi-san's conditions is that I stay with him..."

"Somehow," Eyes says, and smiles as he lifts his teacup, "I had guessed that was the case."

* * *

Ayumu is finishing physical therapy when she returns to the hospital; although she finds his room empty and initially plans to wait for him there, a nurse recognizes her and insists on escorting her down two floors to the training room. She's grateful for it, although she's not so sure that he wants her to see him in this condition. But when she arrives and waves hello to him from the door, she's glad to receive a quick wave back. "He's walking much better," the nurse murmurs to her, smiling. "I can't believe how much progress Ayumu-kun has made."

"He's been working very hard." Hiyono watches him move along a raised platform with bars at arm height, his hands gripping the supports tight as he takes steady steps. He's definitely favoring his left leg today, she notices, but she's not concerned. "He wants to be released from the hospital as soon as possible."

"It's so strange. Just a few months ago, we were afraid that he would never be released…" The young woman smiles wider before turning to leave. "If this is any of your doing, Yuizaki-san, we all owe you our thanks."

"I," she starts, but the nurse is already walking away, and it's probably better if she doesn't say anything anyway. She clears her throat before looking back into the therapy room, and the physical therapist there is nodding her head at Ayumu, declaring that they've finished for the day. He nods back, and Hiyono waits patiently as they exchange a few words, a set of crutches and a towel being passed to the young man as he pulls himself off the platform. It's a few minutes before the therapist leaves and Ayumu comes to the entrance of the training room, a towel around his neck and sweat still shining on his forehead. "Hello, Narumi-san," Hiyono greets him, swallowing. "How was your therapy?"

"You tell me," he says, arching an eyebrow at her. "Do I look like I'm walking yet?"

She's not going to lie. She's a horrible liar. "I think the crutches will help for a little while longer…"

"Eh. I figured. My leg is annoying, going in and out like this." He frowns; then, as if he's just realized that she is here - and not waiting in his hospital room like she usually does, on the days he has therapy - quickly relaxes his expression. "What is it?"

"Well, I…" She clears her throat. "I... I got us an apartment, Narumi-san."

He looks at her in silence for a moment, studying her face, perhaps trying to figure out if she is lying (and of course, she's not). She waits, and he finally shifts on his crutches to get a better look at her face. "How?"

She smiles; she can't help it. She just can't. "It's a trade secret."

"I should have known you'd say that." He chuckles. "Who helped you?"

"Well..."

"Out with it." He grunts, shifting on his crutches again, glancing at his leg. "I know you didn't have enough saved up to pay for the whole thing. That's why you were fretting about it so much yesterday."

She sighs. She is beginning to hate how perceptive he is. "Rutherford-san. But," she adds, quickly, seeing him open his mouth, "it is a _loan_. I will be paying him back. Even if he tries to refuse."

"Eh. At least it wasn't my brother." He shrugs. "That guy has thrown too much money at me already, but if he was willing to do it again, I guess I shouldn't complain. Don't expect to pay him back all on your own, though." He starts to move, hobbling along on his crutches in the direction of the door, and she follows. "As soon as I'm walking without these things, I'm going to get a job."

"Narumi-san. You are not going to get a _job_. In your condition, the only thing you should be doing - "

" - is resting and focusing on my recovery." She can't see his face, but she thinks he's rolling his eyes. "I'm not content to be treated like a cripple when I'm perfectly capable of work. Tsukiomi issued me a graduation certificate months ago. Enrolling in university may be out of the question, but that certificate is enough to get me a position somewhere. Even if it's washing windows."

"_Narumi-san_," she says again, mortified. "Washing windows?"

"If you have any better suggestions, Hiyono," he responds, glancing over his shoulder at her, "let's hear it."

"Mou," she sighs, and hurries to catch up to him. She wants to be annoyed by these little spats, but something about them seems so familiar, so right, and so even as she reaches his side and opens her mouth to suggest that he do something sensible, like take a desk job -

"You're smiling," Ayumu announces, derailing her thoughts with no effort whatsoever.

\- yes, she _is_ smiling. Because she wouldn't have this, have him, any other way.

"Shut up, Narumi-san."

"Oho. That's no way to talk to me."

"Considering the fact that I just got us an apartment, I think you should be a little nicer to me."

"I haven't said a single mean thing. You're the one who told me to shut up."

"You made a face at me!"

"This is how my face always looks."

"It is not!"

"Are you even paying attention to me? You could be a little more attentive to the person you've supposedly devoted your life to. I'm beginning to rethink my decision to live with you… Aniki might come to visit and find me lying helpless on the floor, abandoned and unfed, while you - "

"Narumi-_san_."

"Ah, right. I suppose you would be unfed, too, since I'm going to be responsible for all the cooking. Come to think of it, how are you even getting by right now? Do you eat all your meals at the hospital?"

"Narumi-san, if we weren't surrounded by nurses right now, I swear I would trip you…"

"And if we weren't surrounded by nurses all the time, I would consider locking the door to my room and - "

"_Do **not** finish that sentence!_"

"All I was going to say was "read a novel in peace and quiet.""

"Somehow," Hiyono says, and shakes her head as she steps into the elevator behind Ayumu, lifting a hand to cover her gradually darkening face, "I just don't believe you…"

"Good," he replies, and grins, leaning forward on his crutches to press the button for his floor. "You're getting better at knowing when I'm lying."


	12. more than this II

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter twelve - more than this (part II)

* * *

"Absolutely _not_."

Madoka's reaction to being told about Ayumu's plan to leave the hospital is not unexpected. But it's Kiyotaka's reaction that takes them by surprise.

"Oh? I don't think that's such a bad idea."

Madoka glares at her husband so fiercely that Hiyono gets uncomfortable and wants to leave the room. "How in the world can you agree with him?"

"Hmm, well, he _did_ say that he would come back to the hospital each week for physical therapy. And at this stage, Yui - ah, _Hiyono_ is more than capable of providing him assistance with his daily therapies." Kiyotaka smiles, folding his arms across his chest. "I imagine it would do Ayumu some good to be out of the hospital after all this time, as well."

"You are_ really_ going to approve of this?!"

"I think you're overreacting, neesan." Ayumu leans on his crutches; ever since regaining his mobility, he's all but refused to sit or lie down except to eat and sleep. He's putting his full weight on his left leg today - something not exactly approved by his physical therapist, but she knows better than to argue with him at this point. Hiyono, of course, can sympathize. "Since I'm recovering, there's no reason I have to remain here. And even if things change, I'd rather be at home - "

"I _understand_ that," Madoka interrupts, exasperated, "but why are you two moving in together so quickly?"

Kiyotaka is still smiling. "He's almost twenty years old, after all. Perhaps he would like some independence."

"I don't think that's what he's after, moving in with a girl so quickly."

Hiyono feels herself blush, and she chooses to stare at the sheets of Ayumu's bed, where she sits, instead of anywhere else. Although, she thinks, that is probably the last thing she should be staring at. Or thinking about.

Ayumu sighs from a few feet away, but he doesn't sound irritated. "Would you really rather see me live alone?"

"No, but - "

"And are you willing to give me my old room back?"

"W - well, I could clean it out - "

"And you're comfortable with your troublesome brother-in-law spending all of his time at home with you, interrupting your private time with your husband?"

Madoka is quiet. Too quiet. Hiyono politely covers her ears just as the screaming starts, although it doesn't block out much of the noise. "DON'T USE THAT AGAINST ME, YOU MORON! I'M TRYING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU!"

Kiyotaka laughs uproariously. "I think you've won, Ayumu."

"I'm only trying to be polite."

"Yes, yes, I can see that. She's worried about you, after all." Hiyono finally lifts her head again, just in time to see Kiyotaka throw his arms around a very annoyed Madoka and practically crush her in a hug. "My wonderful wife is so sweet and thoughtful! Offering our home to my little brother in his time of need!"

Madoka groans and kicks him in the shin. "_Stop_ it."

"Well then!" He releases her quickly, still smiling, completely unphased by the physical assault. "I suppose the two of you have already secured an apartment?"

"Yes," Hiyono answers, lowering her hands. "And I am having a few things delivered by the end of next week. So when Narumi-san is released from the hospital… whether it's next month as he hopes, or even a little while after that... he'll be able to go right there and settle in. Ah, and it's only three blocks away. So it will be very easy to come back for physical therapy, even without a car."

"And you'll be able to pay for all this?" Madoka lifts an eyebrow. "I didn't think the transcriptionist position had a very high salary…"

"We'll make do," the younger woman says, smiling sheepishly. "I'm… well, I'm used to living below my means. The important thing is that Narumi-san has someone to care for him - "

"When I need it," Ayumu interrupts.

"... when he needs it," Hiyono echoes, glancing at him. "Since it's very important that he feel independent, after all."

"That may be important," Kiyotaka says, and the blonde catches a hint of a smile on his handsome face as he turns away to rearrange the morning glories in the vase on Ayumu's nightstand, "but I'll feel better knowing that my brother is in good hands, instead of all alone, lonely and sad and missing his big brother and devoted oneesan!"

Hiyono doesn't say anything in response to that; when she glances at Ayumu, she sees him make a face, and for a moment all she can think is that Kiyotaka and Ayumu really act nothing alike… and for that she is _very_ glad.

* * *

Kiyotaka and Madoka leave nearly half an hour later. By then, it's almost eight in the evening on a Friday, and Hiyono is dreading the arrival of nine, when visiting hours end. She's stayed past a few times and hasn't been caught, but she isn't willing to push her luck and somehow find herself banned from the hospital.

When the door slides closed, Hiyono is still seated on the edge of Ayumu's hospital bed, and he is still up on his crutches, having spent the entirety of their visit insisting that he did not need to sit or lie down. "Finally," he mutters, turning himself around to face her, "I thought they'd never leave."

Hiyono smiles, watching him come closer. "But they didn't tell you no, right?"

"You're right," he says, and grins as his crutches clatter to the floor. "That went as well as I expected it to, if not a little better. And..."

She watches his crutches fall, and she knows full well he shouldn't be walking without them, but she still can't help but smile - probably because she also knows what's coming next. "And?"

"And," he says ago, climbing onto the bed, "I cannot _wait _to be out of this hospital room."

"Naru - " she starts, but that's as far as she gets before he pushes her down onto the mattress and kisses her. She laughs and kicks her legs, but after a few seconds she forgets all about protesting, because her time and attention is better spent focused on _him_, after all.

After a few minutes he pulls away with a loud sigh, sprawling out half beside her and half on top of her, his head tucked into the space between her chin and shoulderblade and one of his hands falling to rest on her stomach. Her shirt is rumpled and his hair is a mess but she doesn't care, really, because she's in love with him - because she's going to get to live with him, just as soon as he leaves the hospital, it's really going to happen -

"Are you sure?" he asks, suddenly, quietly.

"About what?"

"Me," he murmurs, and his breath is warm on her collarbone; she shivers as she feels his fingertips drift across her stomach, wondering if he's purposefully touching her or simply absentmindedly moving his hand, just wanting to be closer to her. Either could be right at this point. "If something happens… you could lose me again."

"I won't."

"It isn't as easy as you - "

"I won't," she repeats, softly, silencing him, "lose you, Narumi-san. I believe that. I believe that… that no matter what happens, that no matter how bad things get… you'll keep fighting, because I'll keep cheering you on. That's what I'm really good at, and… that's what I want to do." She swallows, leaning close to him, pressing her cheek to the top of his head, moving one hand until her fingers can tousle his messy hair. "And no matter what, I'll always love Narumi-san. Even if your health stays the way it is now, or gets worse… I'll always feel the way I do right now, and I'll never want anything more than this."

Ayumu's fingers still against her skin for a moment; then, with a soft chuckle, he sweeps them down low to rest against the curve of one hip. "If I had known you would one day say something like that… I might have been a little nicer to you, the day we first met."

"If you had known, Narumi-san," she says, closing her eyes, "none of this would have happened."

"Hm. I suppose that's true." There's silence in his room for a minute, broken only by the sound of their breathing; Ayumu eventually shifts slightly in the bed, pressing his palm flat to her skin. "I haven't said it, have I?"

"What?"

He doesn't reply. It takes her a few seconds, but Hiyono does realize what he means, with a little leap of her heart in her chest to accompany it. _She's_ said it, of course, and more than once, and it's not as if she's hurting to hear his response; she _knows_ that he loves her, and that is enough, but oh, to hear the words, to see his face when he tells her…

"I never thought it would come to this," he says, quietly.

"To what?" she asks.

"To this." He gestures vaguely with his hand before placing it against her skin again. "Neesan liked to joke that you were exactly my type, but I was never interested in you. When you stood with me for the Blade Children's challenges, and even when you barged into the school with a bag of weapons and gave yourself up to Kanone Hilbert as bait, I barely thanked you. And my first response to you giving up two years of your life to become a researcher in Europe, devoting yourself entirely to finding some kind of treatment for my condition, was to give up and decide to die. I fought so hard to keep myself from feeling anything but respect for you, but eventually I had to ask myself why I bothered fighting."

She smiles, closing her eyes, and shifts on the bed, breathing in the scent of his hair. "You're stubborn, Narumi-san."

"Hn." She feels him exhale, his breath warm on her throat. "Was it your goal all along, to make me feel this way about you?"

"It would have been easier if you didn't…"

"But?"

"But I'm happy that things have changed this much," she admits. "Because… more than anything, I want to be by Narumi-san's side. No matter what that means… no matter what role I have to play. It's what makes me feel the most like… me."

"Like you?"

"Like Yuizaki Hiyono - the _real_ Yuizaki Hiyono." She smiles again. "Does that make any sense?"

"A little. I'm used to you not making much sense."

"Don't - "

"The point is," he interrupts, "no matter how hard I looked, or thought, or daydreamed, even after you came back - even after you first told me you wanted to be here, and even after you agreed to stay, at first - I couldn't see a future with you. I thought you would run away again on some kind of mission, or that my left arm would stop moving and my physical therapy wouldn't do any good. I told you once that my chances of living past age twenty were five percent, and that was an optimistic evaluation. Now I'm told it's more like eighty-eight percent, and I should be more worried about being hit by a car or getting pneumonia again."

Hiyono opens her eyes, surprised. "That's… Narumi-san, that's…"

"It's a big change. But it's not just because of my health. It's because of my outlook. I started making an effort, instead of simply waiting for the inevitable to happen, or agreeing to undergo surgery just to please aniki." He looks up at her, something in his dark eyes sincere. "I've never had much of a purpose in my life. Since I spent so long living in my brother's shadow, I've never felt like much of a real person. Part of that is why I understand how you feel. But now, somehow, coming through this… I do feel real. Coming through all this, I'm able to see some kind of future. I'm able to think about the things that I want, and the kind of experiences I want to have. Even if that's selfish…" He pauses, then chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "I might say I deserve to be selfish, for once."

"You do…"

"But at the same time, I have everything I could ask for. I have my life, and my health, and you. All _you've_ done is think about me, for three years straight. About how you can support me, and how you can make me healthy again." He frowns slightly. "And even without worrying about how I felt, or thinking about whether or not I would say the same thing… you decided that you loved me." He exhales loudly. "Stupid girl. I've caused you nothing but trouble, and yet here you are, devoting your life to me without expecting anything in return."

"That's what makes me happy, Narumi-san."

"Well," he says, and sits up, leaning on his right arm, looking down into her eyes, "it shouldn't. Not anymore. One-sided affection directed towards grumpy, ungrateful people - like the person I was - shouldn't make anyone happy. You deserve more than that. _Much_ more than that. After everything you've done, you probably deserve more than I can ever give you, but I know you'd refuse my attempts to repay you, anyway."

She opens her mouth to respond, realizes what he is probably going to say next, and closes it.

"Do I really make you happy?" he asks, staring down into her face, his expression serious. "Honestly?"

"Honestly," she says, softly, "Narumi-san makes me happier than anything else."

"Good." He bends to kiss her forehead, gently, his messy hair mingling with hers. "Because I feel the same way about you."

There's a pause. She waits, patient, knowing she doesn't need to force it. He'll say it when he's ready.

"Hiyono."

"Yes, Narumi-san?"

The hospital room is quiet. The air around them is cool. And the blonde woman thinks she would wait forever, if that's what it would take, but she knows that they've both done enough waiting, and that it won't be long now. She knows that he is ready and so is she, that their future begins tonight, together, here in this room, with no one and nothing to stop them. She may have once been a spy and he may have once been a victim of thieves, but now they are the hero and the heroine and their story is about to begin anew.

Ayumu draws in a breath, holds it, releases it. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she says, and that's as much as she gets out before she bursts into tears, and he laughs, shaking his head at her. They waste away the rest of visiting hours together on his bed, alone and thinking of what their new life will be like together outside of these hospital walls.


	13. heroes and thieves

**heroes and thieves**  
chapter thirteen - heroes and thieves

* * *

_three months later_

* * *

Narumi Ayumu's release from the hospital occurs on a cold November afternoon, later than he wanted but sooner than expected. There's little fanfare, if only because he insists that it be a quiet event. A few nurses, physicians, and surgeons stop by his room to wish him well and offer small gifts, but that's as much as he allows.

After a small celebration and the removal of his piano - which has been donated to the hospital - Ayumu signs his own release papers before riding the elevator down to the first floor. When he walks outside to meet his blonde companion, it's only with the assistance of a polished wooden cane.

As the double doors close behind him, the nineteen-year-old releases his breath, loudly, almost as if he can't believe where he stands. He looks up at the gray sky, then down at the woman who has come to meet him, and the first words he speaks outside of the hospital are simple: "it's cold."

"I thought you might say that." Hiyono stands on her toes to wind a scarf around Ayumu's neck before digging a pair of mittens out of her bag. "Put these on, okay?"

He gives her a look. _A very Narumi-san kind of look_, she thinks, smiling. "You bought me mittens?"

"You don't want to go back to the hospital with pneumonia, do you?"

He sighs, leaning on his cane. "It's only three blocks. I'll live."

"Hmm. Well, don't complain to me if you feel sick tomorrow." She stuffs the mittens back in her oversized purse, wrinkling her nose at him. "I picked those out myself, Narumi-san. Do you know how difficult it is to find a brown scarf with a matching set of mittens?"

"I didn't ask you to buy me mittens. Or a scarf."

"But I did." She sighs, shaking her head as she shoulders her bag. "Maybe someday you'll appreciate all the things I've done for you without being asked…"

He snorts. "Don't bet on it." There's a pause as he looks away from her to the gray sky again, and he lifts his right hand to absently tug at the knitted scarf around the collar of his coat. "Are we really walking there?" he asks, one eyebrow raised.

"That's something you _did_ ask for," she answers, "so that's what we're going to do."

He doesn't respond at first. She sees his eyes move to the cane in his left hand, then to the stretch of sidewalk in front of them. Their new apartment - where she's been living on her own for more than two months - is only three blocks away, but he hasn't walked three blocks for... well, Hiyono gives up on the mental math almost immediately. He glances back at the double doors behind them before finally resting his gaze on her, his brown eyes completely open and expression serious. "Hiyono."

She blinks. "Yes?"

He curls his free hand into a fist and taps her lightly on the top of her head. "Stop thinking about me all the time."

"That, Narumi-san," she says, and smiles wide, "is impossible."

"Heh." His hand relaxes and he strokes her hair, once, gently, before drawing it away again. "I suppose it's a good trait to have. I should be more grateful."

"Yes," she agrees, and her smile gets even wider, somehow, "you should."

"I'll have to make it up to you, won't I?"

"The only thing you have to do is be happy," she replies, and stands up on her toes again, but this time it's to press a kiss to his cheek. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he says. "Let's go home."

"Let's go home," she agrees, and takes his free hand. And for the first time, they begin their three block walk together toward their shared apartment, hand-in-hand, leaving the hospital - but certainly not the memories they made there - behind.

* * *

When they arrive at the apartment, shed their shoes, and walk in the door, they're greeted with a tremendous shout of "SURPRISE!" Ayumu looks around at his friends and family standing there - at all the Blade Children, at his brother, his sister-in-law - and smiles, shaking his head. "I should have known," he says, leaning back on his cane, "that someone would come to mess up my place before I even get to live in it."

"Welcome home, Narumi-san." Hiyono beams up at him, twirling a keyring around on one finger. "Are you surprised?"

"Somehow." He glances down at her. "Was this your idea?"

"I'm only going to say yes if you're not mad…"

"I'm not mad at all." He rolls his eyes. "But I _am_ starving, and I've had enough hospital food for one lifetime. So as long as there's more than store-bought cake to eat, I'll be happy."

"That's Narumi-otouto for you," Kousuke speaks up, laughing, "seeing some of us for the first time in months and only thinking about what there is to eat."

"And _whose_ fault is it that they didn't come to my hospital room?" Ayumu returns, with a grin.

Beside the redheaded Blade Child, Ryouko snorts. "He's right, you know…"

"I was busy! With school! And a part-time job!"

"And a girlfriend," Rio teases.

"_Shut up_!"

"I agree. Shut up." Ryouko pretends not to be embarrassed, motioning for Ayumu and Hiyono to come near where the others have crowded around a table of food. "Come on, you two. Let's get this party started before Kousuke and Rio ruin it for the rest of us."

"For once, Ryouko-san," Hiyono says, sneaking a glance at Ayumu's face and smiling, "I have a feeling Narumi-san would be happy to hear Asazuki-san and Rio-san fight a little bit."

Ayumu doesn't comment, because he's already eyeing up the food, but Hiyono knows she's right. When it comes to Ayumu, somehow, Hiyono is _always_ right.

* * *

The party, although small, lasts for several hours, longer than expected. Ayumu stays in good spirits the entire time, seeming grateful for the gathering, food, and few gifts he's given. The biggest surprise of the evening comes when Eyes Rutherford presents a very large, heavy box that is revealed to have a digital piano inside - carefully selected, he explains, for their apartment's size and sound needs. Ayumu gives the Blade Child a half-hearted scolding about spending too much money on him, and Hiyono ends up thanking Eyes profusely for the extremely thoughtful gift.

All in all, the gathering is a success, and it's Kousuke and Ryouko who end up leaving last. Kousuke somehow gets roped into helping Ayumu assemble his piano, while Ryouko insists on washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. "Like otouto said," she tells Hiyono, "we came and messed up his place before he even got to live in it. It's not fair if I don't help clean it up."

When the two Blade Children eventually say goodnight, it's almost ten in the evening. Hiyono ends up showing Ayumu around the apartment, looking to him for approval every few seconds, but he seems uninterested in anything but taking a bath and going to bed. "I'll look around tomorrow," he tells her, grunting and leaning heavily on his cane as they finish peeking into the second bedroom, which is hers. "I don't mean to sound like I'm not grateful for all this, but all I've wanted to do since I woke up this morning was sit in a hot bath for an hour."

She smiles. "Go ahead, Narumi-san. I promise there won't be any more interruptions."

"Well, if it's you interrupting me - "

"_Go_," she demands, pushing on his back, laughing at him. "And don't get any ideas!"

"Too late," he retorts, but walks away anyway, a grin on his face. And all Hiyono can wonder is when, exactly, the switch got flipped to make him joke about _that_, with _her,_ all the time. It's not that _she_ doesn't think about it, too, but still…

She watches him go, swallowing, and wonders if they're going to get themselves in trouble, living alone like this.

And she realizes that she really doesn't care if they do.

Two hours later, when it's midnight and they've gone to bed in separate rooms, Hiyono is wide awake on her futon and thinking about how she really doesn't want to go back to work on Monday. And then there's a shuffling in the hallway, and she sits up in bed, watching as Ayumu's figure comes into view, illuminated only by the dim glow of a plug-in light she put there to make her feel less alone at night. "What is it?" she asks.

"You're awake?"

"Mm…" She nods, rolling back her blankets. "I can't really sleep. What about Narumi-san?"

"About the same. I've spent months sleeping alone in the hospital with only the nurses to keep me company." He shakes his head. "I should be used to it. But knowing you're here, in the next room… There's something about that… it makes me feel more lonely than before, and sleeping is hard like that."

She studies his profile in the low light, thinking, and there's a moment before she finds the courage to speak the words waiting behind her lips. "Would you… like to stay with me, Narumi-san?"

"Just for tonight," he answers. "Especially because I'm almost certain you snore, based on that one time you did stay over, and I'm sure I won't be able to rest anyway - "

"I do _not_ snore."

"We'll see about that." He starts to enter her room, then hesitates; she notices he hasn't brought his cane, and that he isn't wearing a shirt. "Are you - "

"I'm sure," she answers, softly, because she knows what he's going to say. She pats the space beside her, scooting slightly to one side, and watches him approach. "I have plenty of pillows, too," she says, grabbing for the extras around her futon, and as he carefully sits down beside her, she positions two beside her own. "But…"

She sees him cringe slightly as he drops onto the futon, too much weight placed on his left leg for a moment. She'll have to mention that to his physical therapist, she thinks. "But what?" he asks.

"But wouldn't your bed be more comfortable than this…?" She purses her lips. Kiyotaka had gone out and bought, unprovoked and unannounced, a very large, very comfortable, very _expensive_ bed for Ayumu, meant to support his body and provide ongoing relief - much like his custom hospital bed. "I can move…"

"Hn." She hasn't heard _that_ noise in a while. He practically flops down onto the futon beside her, his brown hair messy on the pillow on which his head lands. "Aniki didn't get you a bed. That isn't really fair."

"Narumi-san, I'm not the one recovering from surgeries…"

"And he isn't the one who went out and found out a bunch of ways to keep my body from destroying itself, either."

She exhales, carefully lying down beside him. "I told you I volunteered…"

They lie there together in the near-dark for a while, silent on her futon, facing each other but not touching. Hiyono closes her eyes, but she doesn't think either of them are planning on sleeping; her suspicions are confirmed when, after a few minutes, Ayumu clears his throat and speaks, quietly. "It's strange."

"What is?" she asks.

"That I really couldn't foresee any of this."

"This?"

"Everything. Not just tonight - your surprise party - or even getting out of the hospital. I couldn't see anything in my future. Living to this age, befriending the Blade Children… you…" He exhales, shifting his head on the pillows. "Before I faced my brother, I thought I could predict everything. I was able to see every action through to the end, as if my life was a game of chess. But when I prevented the board from being cleared, things became far more complex than I ever anticipated."

She considers this for a moment, opening her eyes and studying the curve of his jaw in the dark, thinking to herself that he really ought to have a haircut soon. "Life isn't supposed to be predictable," she says finally, softly, with a smile. "At least, that's what I think. If you know what's going to happen next, it kind of takes the fun out of it… doesn't it?"

"Fun," he repeats, and chuckles. "That's not something I have much experience with."

"Well, I'll be certain to make things fun for you." She smiles wider, reaching out to clear the messy locks of hair out of his eyes. "Narumi-san and I will go on trips, and visit the zoo, and have ice cream whenever we want. And we can make dinner together, and make messes in the kitchen - although we'll have to clean them up, of course. And we'll go on shopping trips, and have parties, and - "

"Don't get carried away," he chides her, but she can hear the warmth in his voice and it makes her heart just _flutter_. "Too much fun might kill me."

"Narumi-_san,_" she deadpans.

"Hm. I suppose that's still a touchy subject." He lifts a hand to catch her wrist before she can draw it away, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm. "But if you can accept the fact that my life may still be shortened… I can handle some fun."

"Can you?"

"Yes," he replies, and there's that grin - that mischievous, up-to-no-good grin she's come to love _so much_, "starting now." And before she can do or say anything, he's wrapped his arms around her, pinning her to the futon, and her very first squeak gets muffled by his mouth on hers.

"Narumi-san," she manages, breathless, after a few kisses, "you didn't come in here because you were having trouble sleeping at all, did you?"

He grins again. "You really are getting better at knowing when I'm lying."

She groans. "I knew it…"

"I don't hear any objections."

Hiyono bites her lip, considers this, and decides not to object.

"Good," Ayumu says, as if he's read her mind, and sweeps the blankets up over their heads. "Now teach me how to have fun."

"Narumi-san," she says again, but this time she laughs, because she's definitely going to oblige him. And there's nothing else she would like to do better than to stay up late with him on her uncomfortable futon, alternately kissing and talking and pretending to argue, because that's what makes her - _them_ \- the happiest.


	14. home

**heroes and thieves  
**chapter fourteen - home

* * *

_two months later_

* * *

Things aren't perfect. Nor will they ever be.

Ayumu's health is better, and his ongoing physical therapy is going well. However, a post-release evaluation suggests he will perhaps need additional surgeries as he ages, and his left leg remains weak and at times unreliable. His physical therapist advises that he walk with a cane the majority of a time. He, of course, ignores this advice.

Hiyono's position as a transcriptionist for the police department earns barely enough to cover the rent, groceries, and bills. After three weeks, Ayumu insists on finding a job. He is about to accept a position as a short-order cook when Kiyotaka intervenes, offering him the opportunity to work as a crime scene evidence collection specialist - provided, of course, he pursues his degree in criminal law in the evenings. He accepts with much grumbling and complaining about being tired of school, despite not being enrolled for well over two years.

Initial concerns regarding how Ayumu will pay for said degree are silenced when Eyes Rutherford visits Hiyono on a Sunday morning, fresh off a plane from Brazil, and hands her a check for a _very_ large amount. She declines twice out of courtesy before accepting, and deposits the money in Ayumu's bank account before he has time to object.

When Ayumu turns twenty in December, he has the flu, refuses his birthday cake, and also refuses any other company aside from Hiyono. She thinks he's being grumpy until he sits her down at the bench in front of his electric piano and plays a sonata he composed for her, something slow and beautiful and sounding like rain in the summertime.

Things aren't perfect. They live in a small apartment, struggling to make ends meet, preparing to balance their jobs and a degree on top of that, still finding themselves - their true selves, the ones they'd never really exposed to each other during their time together in Tsukiomi, the selves they'd never really known. But they're together, and that's what counts.

* * *

"Hey."

"Yes, Narumi-san?"

It's probably almost two in the morning, but there won't be anywhere for them to go tomorrow, anyway. Snow is falling hard in Tokyo; the trains are stopped and the sidewalks in front of their apartment building are glistening white. If Hiyono listens, she can hear the wind whistling outside, blowing drifts across the roads and into the dim streetlights. They are wrapped up in a blanket and the sheets of his bed, one of his arms around her shoulders and her hands absently messing up his constantly disheveled hair. "Do you like it here?" he asks.

"Here?" she asks, blinking, squinting at him; the candle lit on his nightstand is about to burn out. "Do you want to move?"

"I don't mean here. I mean… With me."

"Oh, well, in that case, Narumi-san should have just said - "

He cuts her off, sighing. "That isn't what I want to ask."

"... oh."

"You moved around often when you were young," he says, and it isn't a question because he knows by now, because she's told him all the raw details of all the foster families that rejected her for hacking and cracking and using a computer in dangerous ways. "Did you ever really feel at home, with any of them?"

"No," she answers, right away, shaking her head against his shoulder. "Never."

"I never felt at home, either."

"Ever?" she asks. "Even with your parents? Or Madoka-oneesan?"

"Before now, I've always been an intruder. An unwanted extra." It doesn't pain him to say this, she notices, and she takes some comfort in that; she knows all the details of _his _past, too, some of which Kiyotaka had never told her; she feels very strongly that his childhood was harder than hers, by far. "You're the first person not to simply take pity on me. For the first few weeks, I even thought I was here because you _did_ feel sorry for me, but then…"

"It's more than that, Narumi-san."

"I know." He pauses; the wind whistles loud outside. "What I did mean to ask was if you felt at home. Not here, but with me. Because of me."

Hiyono purses her lips. It's not perfect, with him. And it never will be. He's grumpy and smarter than her and never quite says what he's thinking, but he's given everything to her, showed her the raw parts of his soul, the parts of him that feared his death (and still do) and the parts of him that were vulnerable enough to love her even when he knew it was a trap. And she's given it all back to him.

Even when they struggle, even when they bicker and she nags and he gets irritated and walks out of the room to be alone and play his piano, there's still the way he smiles when she eats his cooking, the way he kisses her unexpectedly, the way he tells her he loves her when she's the most undeserving, the way he glances at her while they're doing something as mundane as watching television and smiles, and how wonderful it is to see _him_ smile -

\- and that's home. That's what it means, to her. But how can she put that into words?

"Of course," she says, drawing in a breath. Her voice is softer than she wants it to be. "But - Narumi-san, I - "

"Hiyono."

She closes her mouth. And she notices that for the first time in a very long time, Ayumu isn't looking at her when he's speaking.

"Do you want to get married?"

_Oh._

She thinks to herself that it's just like him to propose like this - at two in the morning, while they're half-asleep in bed, talking about things that have nothing to do with marriage, in the middle of a sentence. The only other time she would have expected it would have been while she was doing laundry - or perhaps while he was cooking - as casually as he would ask anything else, really, like "have you seen my cane?" or "when is my next therapy appointment?"

But she really couldn't expect Ayumu to kneel down and pull out a box and deliver a speech, nor would she want that, because after all the dramatics and well-laid plans and speeches they've already experienced -

She realizes she's lying in silence and leaving him hanging. She looks up at him, studying his face in the mostly-dark room, and thinks to herself that the first time they saw each other - the first time she saw his profile like this - she was eighteen and he was sixteen and they were in high school and she'd never once guessed that this would happen.

She's happy that it is happening.

"Ayumu," she says, quietly.

He turns his head and looks at her now, his brown eyes wide. "_What?_"

She smiles. And she doesn't really have to say anything else. At least she thinks she doesn't. Because she'd told him, just a few weeks before, that she would only stop calling him "Narumi-san" if they got married.

His bedroom is quiet for a moment, but then he laughs, shaking his head, and leans down to kiss her.

It's good, she thinks, to finally be home.

* * *

_the end_

* * *

**author's note: **Thanks for everyone who followed this fic! Since this fits into my post-Spiral headcanon, if you'd like to learn what happens to Ayumu and Hiyono after the conclusion of heroes and thieves, you can read my fic "endroll" (spoilers: BABIES!), which I am hoping to resume again soon. I may also write a few one-shots that take place between the two, but I am still tossing those ideas around. Long live Spiral!


	15. epilogue

It _was_ finished... but I still had one more chapter left in me.

Enjoy. Happy 2015!

* * *

**heroes and thieves**  
epilogue

* * *

"You're doing this backwards, aren't you?"

Hiyono always finds it hard to be happy when she sees Narumi Kiyotaka, at least not without pretending a little bit, but she smiles at him as he approaches anyway. She is sitting all alone on a park bench, clothed in white with blooming flowers in her hair, and for once the approach of this tall, brown-eyed man with a wry smile means something _good_ for her.

"I suppose that we are." She smoothes the folds of her dress, breaking eye contact with him as he settles down on the park bench beside her, the smile still lingering on her lips. "But it can't be helped, can it?"

"I suppose not." Kiyotaka chuckles, stretching his long arms out along the length of the wooden bench, and she can feel those sparkling brown eyes of his on her, examining her. His eyes are so much like Ayumu's, as they must be, but somehow still so different. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Very good," she answers.

"And how is your little bun doing?"

At this Hiyono has to smile genuinely; she presses her hand flat to the swell of her midsection, where something that seemed like nothing more than a little bump just a few days ago has grown into a noticeable sign of new life, and wags one of the fingers on her other hand at him. "It's not a bun, Kiyotaka-san. It's your niece, and soon she'll have a name."

"Ah, so it's a girl after all?" He seems genuinely pleased, his brown eyes really sparkling now. "How wonderful. But Ayumu wanted a boy, didn't he?"

"Nar - _Ayumu _wanted nothing more than a healthy child." She is still having trouble remembering to call him by his first name, even after four months of engagement. Old habits are hard to break. "When we found out, he was scared of what might happen… so now that the tests have all come back showing the baby is normal, I don't think he minds the gender very much." She pauses to smile down at her abdomen. "And he will be a wonderful father no matter what. I believe that."

"As do I."

"And I'm sure our daughter will be spoiled by her doting aunt and uncle, of course."

"Of _course_," Kiyotaka agrees, emphatically. "Not to mention her extended family of the remaining Blade Children, the entire police department… hmm… and probably Kirie-chan, because although you wouldn't think it, she's really very fond of children."

"No, I wouldn't expect that." Hiyono laughs, reaching up to adjust the crown of flowers in her hair, and then for a moment everything is quiet and still. She glances at the thin silver band on her left hand just once before swallowing, gathering her courage to say a few words that are both very difficult and very much necessary. "I'm glad that… we're becoming family, Kiyotaka-san."

"Oh?" He cocks his head at her. "Truly? I was still under the impression that you despised me."

"Ayumu has forgiven you, so… I should, as well." She fingers the delicate petals of a white lily tucked above her ear. "But… at the start of all of this… regardless of your intentions to use me as a pawn, to play me against him… you never intended for me to feel the way I did. That was my own weakness. So in the end, the grudge I held… the bitterness I felt about being away…"

"Well." His voice is deep and pondering; he lifts his head to look up at the sky now, long brown bangs falling away from his handsome face. "Even so, it isn't as if I didn't know how you felt. When you volunteered to help with his treatment… even before that… hm." He exhales. "The fault is mostly mine. I set my sights only on clearing the board of its pawns, without considering how that might affect you."

"Or Ayumu."

"Or Ayumu," he agrees. "They were all very short-sighted decisions, the ones I made back then. That even he could forgive me, or Madoka... I expected no forgiveness, when it all ended."

Hiyono folds her hands together in her lap. "Many things have changed since then."

"You are right."

"There isn't any way that I could become part of your family without forgiving you, though. Even if I don't understand, I…" She pauses, breathes out, smiles a little. "I want my daughter to have a different life than I had… and a better relationship with her parents than the one that you and Ayumu had. And I believe that all starts with accepting the past for what it was, and moving forward… together."

"Those are very wise words, for someone so young." She sees the trace of a frown on his brow. "But will you tell her about the past? About how this all came to be?"

"No. Not unless we have to." She shakes her head. "So many people were hurt… and even we were hurt. It would be better for her to live her life without knowing about all of the sadness… and instead live each day in happiness."

"And if something happens to Ayumu…"

"That's a risk we're willing to take." She swallows. "But if something does happen… at the very least… I'll be able to see his face every day, when I look at our daughter… and even when I look at yours, Kiyotaka-san."

"Wise words," he says again, and finally looks at her, chuckling softly. "I knew I picked the right girl to work with, after all."

She giggles a little. "Even if it ended up like this?"

"Well, it's certainly not a _bad_ thing that the two of you are getting married." They hear a distant voice and Kiyotaka promptly stands, stretching his long arms above his head quickly before readjusting the jacket of his suit. "But as I said. You're doing things a bit backwards. Not that _I_ care very much, but there are others who insist it's a problem."

"Madoka-oneesan's still…"

"Hmm. I expect your daughter to be in high school before she lets up on lecturing the two of you for conceiving her out of wedlock."

Hiyono sighs. "I see."

"Hiyono-san!" A cheerful voice greets them, and Takeuchi Rio bounds over to the blonde as she stands; Rio takes one of Hiyono's hands and squeezes it tightly, an enormous smile on her small face. "Everything is prepared. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Hiyono returns the smile before turning to look up at Kiyotaka. "Well, Kiyotaka-san?"

He purses his lips. "You're certain about this?"

She blinks at him. "Eh?"

Rio makes a face, shifting the basket of flower petals she carries to her other arm. "It's a little late to be asking if she wants to get married, isn't it?"

"That isn't what I mean." The tall man sighs loudly. "You don't _have_ to be walked down the aisle by someone. If you'd rather walk alone…"

"No. In a way, it seems fitting." She reaches up to check on the flowers in her hair one last time. "If anyone was going to give me away… it should be you. Not because you're anything like a father to me, but because… well…" She laughs softly. "It makes sense."

"Ohhhh, it does!" Rio nods emphatically. "Smart thinking, Hiyono-san!"

"Well, then." Kiyotaka grins a bit as he extends his arm to her. "Shall we?"

"Yes," she answers; then, with a grin of her own, "because if we keep Ayumu waiting any longer, I'm certain he'll come storming across the park to find us himself."

They all laugh at that, and then their little group of three starts to make their way through the grass and toward the small clearing where everyone else waits - toward the end of Yuizaki Hiyono's existence and the next chapter of her life, where she'll be known as _Narumi_ Hiyono. And she can't help but think to herself, as she tightens her grip on her new brother-in-law's arm just a little, that this is the name that finally feels right.

And somehow, in the end, she's glad for everything - even for Kiyotaka - because it all brought her to _him_. To Ayumu. And soon, to their daughter, who for now sleeps soundly somewhere inside of her, dreaming of a future life where she'll know no heroes or thieves, just happiness and love and life.


End file.
